


Beneath the Mask

by TheLegendOfChel



Series: Bonding Moments [4]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Accidental Voyeurism, Altean Lance (Voltron), Blindfolds, Bondage, Bottom Keith (Voltron), Canon-Typical Violence, Dubious Consent, Fluff and Angst, Gags, Galra Keith (Voltron), Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Kidnapping, Kinda, M/M, Secret Identity, Spies & Secret Agents, Top Lance (Voltron), Torture, a dash of smut, but it's not explicit, galtean klance, just for like a minute, not between keith and lance, they're both half human and basically look the same as in canon, this whole thing started out as an excuse to tie keith up and then it grew plot and feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-08
Updated: 2018-12-08
Packaged: 2019-09-14 01:28:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 23,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16903533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLegendOfChel/pseuds/TheLegendOfChel
Summary: Agent Lance McClain of the rebel group Voltron is ecstatic to get his first big assignment. That is, until he learns what his mission entails:Kidnap Prince Lotor’s fiancé, Keith Kogane, to use as a hostage against the Galra Empire.Despite his misgivings, Lance accepts and goes undercover at Daibazaal Castle. But as he grows closer to Keith, Lance starts to wonder if he can bring himself to betray the boy he’s slowly falling for.





	Beneath the Mask

**Author's Note:**

> Trigger warnings for dub-con and implied non-con (neither are between Keith and Lance). Honestly, it's ambiguous if the non-con even happens at all, but I figured I'd tag it just to be safe. Also some torture, but nothing too explicit. 
> 
> Please see the end notes for more details but be warned that they contain major spoilers for the fic.
> 
> Also, because there wasn’t really a natural way to say this in the fic itself, Keith and Lance are both in their mid-twenties. Just fyi.
> 
> Please enjoy!

“You want me to what?”

Lance stared at Allura. When she had first called him to her office he had been excited. Finally, after five years of proving himself, after months and months of group missions and smaller info runs, Lance had been deemed ready for his first big solo assignment.

But he never thought it would be something like this.

Allura arched an elegant eyebrow.

“If you don’t think you can go through with it, tell me now,” she warned. “This mission is top secret, and before I give you any more intel I must know you’re committed to the task.”

Lance frowned and lowered his gaze in thought. His family had been a part of the Voltron Rebel Alliance since before he was born, and all Lance had ever wanted to do was help fight the tyrannical Galra Empire. As soon as he was old enough, Lance had joined the cause and now had several successful wins under his belt, mostly involving stealing information or sabotaging Galra forces.

Lance knew that stuff was important, but it always felt like nothing more than a tiny pebble thrown into the vast ocean that was the Galra Empire. Now Allura was offering him a chance, a real chance, to do something important. To make a difference and maybe even turn the tide in this war.

All he had to do was kidnap somebody.

But surely it was for a good reason, right? The rebel group had done some sketchy stuff in the name of justice, but Allura wouldn’t ask him to harm an innocent person. It had to be like, a corrupt politician or something like that.

With this in mind, Lance held out his hand for the datapad. Allura handed it over and Lance stared down at his target.

“His name is Keith Kogane,” she said. “He is Prince Lotor’s fiancé. They’re scheduled to get married early next deca-phoeb.”

Lance’s head snapped up.

“Lotor’s fiancé? But,” he looked back at the picture, “he looks...human.”

“He is,” Allura nodded. “Well, actually he’s a human-galra hybrid.”

“Is that why you picked me for this mission?” Lance asked as a curl of disappointment formed in his stomach.

“I’d be lying if I said it didn’t factor in,” she admitted. “But please believe me when I say the main reason was your abilities. We truly believe you are the best person for this job, Lance.”

Lance looked her in the eyes and saw she was telling the truth. His insecurities faded somewhat and he returned his focus on the datapad file.

He, like most of the rebels, was far from Lotor’s biggest fan, but Lance had to admit the prince had good taste if this Keith Kogane was half as pretty in real life as he was in the photo.

“Kogane was a member of the royal guard before Lotor started courting him,” Allura continued. “Though he is obviously no longer on duty, Kogane is highly skilled in swordplay and hand-to-hand combat, so be aware.”

“Why does Voltron want him? Just to use as a hostage against Lotor?”

Allura shook her head. “That is part of it, but we would not go to such lengths without reason. I’m sure you’ve heard by now that Takashi Shirogane was captured on a mission several weeks ago.”

Lance nodded. Shiro was one of Voltron’s best operatives, and it had been a devastating blow to the rebellion when he didn’t return.

“So this is what,” Lance said, “a bargaining chip?”

“Precisely. We will return Lotor’s betrothed if he returns Shiro.”

Lance could see why Voltron would want to get their hands on Keith rather than some other important official. The Galra were incredibly cutthroat, and if they used a random general as a hostage, there was no guarantee the Empire wouldn’t just cut their losses.

Lotor, however, was the sole heir to the throne, and even if his advisors warned against the exchange he could go over their heads to get his beloved fiancé back.

“So you want me to just get in, grab the guy, and get out?”

“I’m afraid it’s not that simple. Lotor is quite protective and Kogane never leaves his side without some kind of security. If you want to get close, you’ll have to infiltrate Lotor’s inner circle and gain his trust. That’s why we chose you, Lance. You’re one of our best undercover agents and have a knack for getting people to like you. I have no doubt you’ll be able to convince Keith Kogane to let his guard down.”

“So that I can stab him in the back,” Lance finished uncomfortably.

“We don’t mean him any harm,” Allura promised. “If all goes according to plan, he won’t get hurt at all.”

Lance didn’t find that very reassuring, but nodded anyway.

“You won’t have to do this alone,” she added. “We already have an agent stationed in the castle who can act as your backup if necessary. And we’ll give you a communicator with a direct line to Pidge if there’s an emergency.”

Lance nodded again, his brow still creased with uncertainty. Allura leveled a serious look at him.

“Lance,” she said sternly. “I’ll ask you once more, and you must be honest. Can you do this? If you have any doubt, you will be sworn to secrecy and I will give the assignment to someone else.”

Lance squared his shoulders and returned her gaze.

“No,” he said, “I’ll do it.”

\-----

They didn’t send Lance off right away. Over the next few weeks, Lance was subjected to endless lessons about the political climate and intricacies of Galra court. He also used this prep time to learn more about his target.

Unfortunately, there was very little information available about Keith Kogane. All Lance could really uncover was that Keith grew up on Earth as a child before being recruited into the Galra military. He quickly rose through the ranks thanks to his battle prowess and was soon assigned to work at the royal castle in Daibazaal. It was there that he met Prince Lotor, who took one look at his perfect face and gorgeous eyes and proposed on the spot.

Okay, so that last bit was Lance’s conjecture, but the rest was accurate.

Finally, the time came for him to say his goodbyes to his friends and family. He wasn’t allowed to tell them anything about his mission, of course, but they were all a part of Voltron and knew the risks involved. A few tears may have been shed.

Several hours later, Lance’s small spacecraft entered the atmosphere of the planet Daibazaal. As he flew through the city, he gazed around with open curiosity. This was his first time on the Galra home planet. He was somehow surprised by how normal it looked. Like it was just another technologically advanced planet, and not the capital of an empire that had brutally conquered hundreds of civilizations.

Lance took a deep breath and pushed those thoughts away as an attendant waved him into the castle docking bay. Getting upset about what the Galra had done to his people and to millions of others wasn’t going to help him endear himself to the prince of said empire.

Lance tried not to fidget as he followed a royal soldier through the halls of Daibazaal Castle. He was honestly surprised by the diversity of aliens around him. Most were Galra, of course, but there were also several Alteans, some Olkari, and even a couple of Unilu. He imagined it was Prince Lotor’s influence, since he was well known for reaching out to other species, unlike his father. It meant Lance wouldn’t stand out as much as he’d feared, so that was a welcome relief.

Another pleasant surprise was Lance’s uniform. Not to brag, but Lance looked damn fine in traditional Altean garb. He was glad Voltron managed to sneak him in as an ambassador visiting for the peace talks, rather than the original plan to make him a guard.

Lance’s escort stopped in front of a door and knocked.

“Your guest is here, Sire.”

“Come in,” answered a smooth voice.

The guard gestured for him to go ahead and Lance entered the suite. The room was opulent but modern, as one might expect of a prince’s living quarters. They appeared to be in a common room area, with a plush couch, large entertainment system, and several bookshelves filled with various paraphernalia. More doors led to what Lance assumed were Lotor’s bedroom and study.

The prince himself lounged on the couch. Lance’s target, Keith Kogane, sat curled up against Lotor’s side as the prince went over reports on his datapad. Seeing Lance, Lotor set the tablet aside and rose to greet him. Keith reluctantly followed suit.

“Ah, you must be the one they sent to discuss the new coalition. Lance, was it?” Lotor said.

Lance bowed. “Yes, your highness. It’s an honor to meet you.”

“The honor is all mine,” Lotor smiled magnanimously as he motioned for Lance to stand straight. “Forgive me, but...I must ask...your ears…”

Lance rubbed the back of his neck with a deprecating grin. “Yeah, uh, I’m only half Altean. My father is human.”

Inwardly, Lance grimaced but wasn’t surprised. All his life his fellow Alteans had ridiculed his rounded ears. He could pass for a human if it weren’t for the blue markings under his eyes and the little bit of magic he wielded. It was still a bit of a touchy subject, but Lance told himself this time was different. Being a hybrid would actually work in his favor with Lotor, and hopefully with Keith as well.

True to form, Prince Lotor’s eyes lit up. “What a coincidence. I’m half Altean myself, as I’m sure you know, and Keith here is half human.”

Keith regarded Lance with disinterested eyes. He nodded but didn’t speak.

Lotor chuckled. “You’ll have to forgive him. He can be a bit wary around strangers, but he’ll warm over time.”

Keith shot him look. “I’m not a cat,” he muttered.

“You know I don’t know what that is, darling.”

As the couple bickered, Lance took the opportunity to study his target. Not only did Keith Kogane look as pretty as he had in his photo, but Keith was probably the most beautiful person Lance had ever seen. His pale skin was flawless, his hair thick and silky, and his lips incredibly kissable. He was lithe, and not terribly short, probably just a couple inches less than Lance, but compared to his fellow Galra, Keith was tiny.

The photo also hadn’t done justice to the intensity of Keith’s eyes, or their vibrant purple hue.

“Ah, my apologies for getting carried away,” Lotor said, snapping Lance’s attention away from ogling his fiancé. “The peace talks will start in the morning, so for now just make yourself at home. Dinner will be served in a few hours. I’m afraid I have some business to attend to, but perhaps Keith could give you a tour of the castle. I’m sure he’d like someone besides Matt to talk to about Earth.”

Keith pouted but sighed at the prince’s imploring gaze.

“Follow me,” he said, though from his tone of voice, he didn’t seem to actually care if Lance followed or not.

Lance did, of course, and so did a handful of royal guards. Keith eyed them irritably. From what Lance recalled, Keith was an accomplished warrior and probably felt the security unnecessary. If Lance was lucky, maybe he could use that later to get Keith alone. For the time being, he focused on the other part of his mission. Gaining Keith’s trust.

“So,” Lance said as they strolled through the gardens. “Who’s Matt?”

Keith’s eyes flicked over to him before he turned his gaze forward once more.

“One of Lotor’s advisors,” Keith said shortly. “He’s a human too.”

“Oh yeah? Full or half?”

“Full.”

They lapse back into silence. Clearly Keith wasn’t much of a talker. But that was alright, Lance could more than make up for it. He asked Keith questions about the gardens, about Lotor, and about his life here in Daibazaal, always being sure to keep his queries innocuous and act like Keith’s one worded answers were the most fascinating Lance had ever heard.

He didn’t have to pretend too hard. Despite Keith’s sour attitude, Lance was strangely entranced. At first it was just his looks, but as he coaxed the other boy out of his shell bit by bit, Lance started to get the impression that Keith wasn’t being intentionally rude; he just didn’t quite know how to interact with people. It was kind of adorable.

Lance quickly quashed that thought. He had a mission, and couldn’t afford to get distracted by Keith’s pretty eyes or his cute laugh. Liking Keith would just make it that much harder when the time came to betray him.

So it felt like both a blessing and a curse when Lance put his foot in his mouth.

“So,” he said, completely unaware of the landmine he was about to step on. “You and the crown prince, huh? Must be a fairytale come true.”

A faint blush rose on Keith’s cheeks and he looked down shyly.

“It was...unexpected, but I can’t say I regret it,” Keith replied.

“I’ll bet,” Lance grinned. “Definitely a step up from guard duty, right?”

The small smile Lance had worked so hard to earn vanished.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Keith asked frostily.

Lance blinked, not sure what he had done to trigger the sudden change in attitude. He quickly tried to backpedal.

“I just meant, y’know, being the prince’s future consort seems like a way better deal than staying a soldier, so no one could blame you for accepting his proposal even if you didn’t like Lotor. Which you obviously do!” Lance hastily added at Keith’s growing frown.

“Not that it’s any of your business,” Keith glared. “But I truly love Lotor. He may seem aloof and arrogant to outsiders, but he’s actually very sweet.”

“I’m sure he is,” Lance agreed. “I didn’t mean to offend—”

“I suddenly remembered some urgent business I have to attend to,” Keith interrupted. “If you’ll excuse me.”

Before Lance could get another word out, Keith turned on his heel and stormed away, his security team following close behind.

Lance sighed and pinched his nose. Things had been going so well, dammit. Luckily he had a few months to complete his mission before the peace talks ended, but still, he’d better fix this as soon as possible, and the most obvious solution was to find Keith and apologize.

Lance gave himself a determined nod. He stepped forward and then paused, glancing around the maze of hedges and flowers.

But first he had to figure out how to get out of the gardens.

\-----

Lance stormed into his room. All day he had tried to get Keith’s attention and apologize but the other boy refused to listen. And of course, in addition to his primary objective, Lance had to keep up the facade of being here on a peacekeeping mission. He’d been in and out of meetings all day, and while Allura had prepared him, it was still exhausting.

He was distracted out of his grumbling when a flash of white caught his eye. Someone had slipped a piece of paper under his door.

Curious, Lance picked it up.

His eyes widened. The note specified a time and meeting place, written in a code known only to Voltron agents. Allura had said he’d have backup here in the castle. Could this be from them?

Well, Lance thought to himself as he checked the time, only one way to find out.

\-----

Lance crept into the dark study and furtively glanced around. He could probably trust the letter, but only a dead spy let their guard down.

“I’m sorry, sir, but visitor hours are over.”

Lance jumped, whipped out his knife, and whirled around to find Matt’s shit-eating grin inches from his face.

“Dude!” Lance whispered harshly. “That’s not funny! I almost shanked you!”

“Looked pretty funny to me,” Matt snickered. “I haven’t seen you in ages, man. How’ve you been?”

Lance rolled his eyes but accepted Matt’s handshake. He’d had his suspicions when Lotor mentioned a human named Matt, but it was good to see his fellow rebel with his own eyes.

“I’m alright. Still getting the lay of the land around here.”

“Oh right, this is your first big mission. It’s okay,” Matt added at Lance’s hesitation. “This room is secure, I triple checked. And then checked a fourth time just to be safe.”

Relieved, Lance nodded. “Yeah, and it’s so not what I expected.”

“It is unusual,” Matt acknowledged. “Voltron prides itself on having the moral high ground. They must be pretty desperate to resort to taking hostages.”

“It’s to get Shiro back, so yeah, I guess they are.”

“I feel for Keith though,” Matt frowned. “I’ve gotten to know him over the past several months, and believe it or not, he’s a pretty upstanding guy. Sure, he’s a little antisocial, he’s got some walls up, but his heart’s in the right place. Too bad he fell for a royal douchebag.”

“Speaking of Keith,” Lance bit his lip, “I might have pissed him off earlier and now he’s ignoring me. The mission kind of hinges on me getting close to him, so...any chance you can help me out?”

Matt looked Lance up and down with a considering gaze and broke out into a grin.

“How’s your hand-to-hand combat?”

\-----

“Lance! Over here!”

Across the large training hall, Matt waved much more enthusiastically than warranted this early in the morning. Nevertheless, Lance plastered on a smile and strode over.

The room was empty except for Matt, Lance, Keith, and a lone sentry that guarded the door. Lance didn’t know if it was due to the hour or royal fiancé privileges but he wasn’t about to ask. Already, Keith was scowling in his direction.

“What are you doing here?” Keith asked rudely.

“I invited him,” Matt grinned. “We Earthlings have to stick together, right? So I thought Lance could join our morning spar sessions.”

Keith’s frown didn’t lighten, but he also didn’t argue. Instead, the smaller boy returned to his warm up stretches. Matt did the same and Lance decided to follow suit, if only so he didn’t look like a tool just standing around.

Despite his best efforts, Lance couldn’t help peeking over at Keith. Like the other two, Keith wore a lightweight under armour bodysuit that hugged his lithe frame. As he flexed into a pose that reminded Lance of Earth yoga, Lance had to physically force himself to look away. His own bodysuit would do little to hide any arousal, and the last thing he needed was to make the situation more awkward.

“Alright, Lance,” Matt said, hands on his hips. “Since you got here last, Keith and I will spar first. Then you can take on the winner.”

“Sure,” Lance readily agreed. While he wasn’t bad at hand-to-hand combat by any means, he knew Matt and Keith both excelled at it while Lance’s area of expertise was long-range weaponry, so he’d take any advantage he could get.

Lance kept a calculating eye on the two as he continued his warm ups. While Matt really was quite skilled, Keith was something else entirely. He knew from the dossier that Keith was something of a prodigy and had even caught the eye of the prince with his combat prowess, but seeing it in person made Lance stop and stare.

It was beautiful.

Keith’s movements were graceful and without pause. He was constantly in motion and quick on his feet. What he lacked in size, he more than made up for with speed and determination.

Lance had initially thought Matt would throw the match to give Lance the opportunity to speak with Keith one on one, but when Keith finally pinned Matt to the ground, arm pressed against his throat, Lance had no doubt he had won fair and square.

“Okay, Lance, your turn,” Matt said in a voice much too chipper for someone who just got his ass handed to him.

For a brief second, Lance almost hesitated. Close range combat wasn’t his forte in the first place, and fighting Keith was probably like asking for a beat down. But then he looked into Keith’s eyes and saw the glint of challenge. The desire for a worthy opponent. The doubt Lance could provide such a thing.

Lance felt that familiar spark inside of him. The one that never backed down and relished in proving his worth to any that underestimated him.

A smirk curled across his lips and Lance swaggered over to the middle of the mat.

“Bring it.”

Keith’s gorgeous eyes narrowed as he lowered himself back into position.

On Matt’s signal, Keith immediately swiped at Lance, who barely dodged in time. Quiznack, he was fast. But Lance had been studying him throughout his last match and was excellent at predicting his opponents movements. With his sharp eyes, Lance could spot the smallest twitch of muscle signaling an attack and move in time to counter it.

This went on for awhile, with Keith primarily on the offense and Lance on the defense. But then, Lance finally saw the opening he was waiting for when Keith lunged at him a little too forcefully. Lance stepped to the side at the very last second, but before Keith could spin and use his momentum to his advantage, Lance reached out to snatch his wrist and pulled hard. He caught Keith by surprise and they tumbled to the ground.

This quickly dissolved into a grappling match as the two rolled around trying to get the upper hand. Keith was still incredibly fast and, Lance discovered, not above using dirty tactics like biting. But Lance was stronger, and once he managed to get Keith pinned beneath him, the other boy had a hard time throwing him off.

Lance gazed down at Keith, his hands wrapped around Keith’s wrists and pressed to the floor on either side of Keith’s head. A part of him marvelled at how delicate the bones felt as Keith struggled in his grasp.

Lance shook his head to focus on the task at hand and smirked down at Keith.

“It’s no use,” Lance informed him. “You might be half Galra, but I’m half Altean. We’re a lot stronger than we look. Guess I win.”

Keith paused his writhing to glare up at Lance. His eyes were full of fire, but a faint blush dusted his cheeks, and Lance tried not to wonder if Keith would look like this in more pleasurable situations too.

Keith suddenly went limp, his expression turned almost deadpan.

“You might be Altean,” he mocked, “but you forgot one thing.”

“Oh yeah?” Lance arched an eyebrow. “What’s that?”

“Legs.”

Lance blinked.

“Le—”

Suddenly Lance felt two limbs wrap around his waist and jerk him to the side. Before he knew it, their positions were reversed with Lance on his back and Keith straddling his hips. Keith’s forearm pressed against Lance’s throat, not hard enough to hurt but the implied threat was undeniable. Lance stared as the raven-haired boy shot him a wild grin.

It was the most gorgeous thing he had ever seen.

“Okay,” Matt clapped his hands to gain their attention. “I think that does it for today. Great job, Lance!”

“What do you mean?” Lance grumbled as Keith moved away. “I lost.”

Keith stood up and, to Lance’s surprise, held out his hand. With a smile, Lance accepted and let Keith help him to his feet.

“Oh, sure,” Matt nodded. “But you have to understand, nobody beats Keith. He is quite literally the best. We can only judge our skills on how long we last against him, and you, my friend, did surprisingly well.”

Lance turned to Keith in askance. Keith blushed a bit and crossed his arms.

“You did alright,” he shrugged, not meeting Lance’s eyes. “Better than I thought you would, at least.”

Normally, such a backhanded compliment would have Lance bristling for a rematch, but for some reason all Lance could do was smile.

\-----

Okay, so maybe that last comment did reignite his competitive nature a little bit. But now that Keith no longer seemed to hate his guts, Lance hoped his challenge came across as good-natured rather than being a sore loser when he insisted they practice long-range combat next.

Keith rolled his eyes but agreed. Matt claimed he had to get ready for a meeting and ducked out, leaving Keith and Lance alone except for the sentry that hadn’t moved from its post by the door.

Keith inputted some commands and a large panel rose out of the floor to reveal several types of guns mounted on the wall. Lance swept his eyes over the selection with a low whistle.

“The Galra really go all out when it comes to combat, huh?” Lance said as he picked out a sleek rifle.

Keith smirked. “You should see my knife collection.”

He tapped a few more commands into the console and a handful of targets dropped out of the ceiling and hovered in the air. “What level do you want to start with?”

Lance considered it. On one hand, it was always good to have your enemies underestimate you, so he could pretend to be just somewhat above average.

But on the other hand, he really wanted to impress Keith.

“What the highest level anyone’s got a perfect score on?”

Keith’s eyebrows rose. “Seventy-two.”

Lance rolled the tension out of his shoulders and brought the reticle up to his eye. “Put it on seventy-five.”

The next fifteen minutes were a blur as Lance lost himself to the fight. His mind carefully blank, Lance dove from cover to cover as scores of small robotic orbs fired at him only for Lance to snipe them out of the air in return. There were a few close calls, and Lance had to pull off some pretty crazy maneuvers to avoid getting shot.

Finally, there was only one orb left. Lance peeked out from the short wall he was using as cover to see the target glide closer, its glowing sensor swiveling back and forth as it tried to find him. Lance waited for the opportune moment and dodgerolled into a kneel, gun raised. The orb fired its laser but Lance was faster, and it fell to the ground with a _thunk_.

Grinning, Lance stood up and wiped the sweat off his brow. He turned to look at Keith and smirked at the other boy’s slack jawed expression.

Lance lifted the barrel to his lips and blew on it like it was a pistol from the Wild West and not a modern blaster. Keith rolled his eyes but a small smile graced his lips.

“Okay, I admit it,” he said as Lance sauntered over. “You weren’t lying about being a decent shot.”

Lance preened and offered Keith the gun. “Your turn.”

“I’m...not really that good with guns.”

“Aw, c’mon, I did your thing.”

Keith sighed. “Okay, fine, but I’m lowering the level. By, like, a lot.”

Keith also selected a different weapon, plucking a small handgun from the arsenal. He set the level to fifty, which turned out to be a more traditional shooting range setup with a single circular target about eighty feet away that moved around in a random pattern.

Keith took aim and fired. He never missed altogether, but he never hit the bullseye either. After a few rounds, Keith lowered the gun with a grimace.

“I told you I wasn’t very good.”

“Nah, you’re fine. You’d do better if you adjusted your stance a little though,” Lance walked closer. “May I?”

Keith shrugged and handed him the pistol. Lance demonstrated the correct posture and then returned the gun.

“Like this?” Keith tried to copy Lance’s example.

“You’re still holding it a little too low,” Lance placed a hand under Keith’s to correct his aim. “There, that’s better.”

Lance grinned down at Keith and froze. They were incredibly close, Keith’s hands still resting lightly on his palm while Lance’s other hand had somehow settled on the small of Keith’s back without Lance noticing.

The two looked at each other for a long moment before Lance cleared his throat and took a step back.

“Try it now.”

Keith blinked and turned back to the target. Using the new stance, he scored much higher than before.

When Keith shot him a dazzling smile, Lance got the feeling he was well and truly fucked.

\-----

Over the next several days, Lance fell into a routine. He would join Keith and Matt to spar in the mornings, then negotiate peace talks later in the day. Once a week, he and Matt would rendezvous at a different location to update each other on their missions and share relevant information.

To Lance’s surprise, Keith soon started seeking him out outside of their training. They would stroll through the gardens or eat lunch on Lotor’s private balcony, and talk about music or the planets they’d visited or their favorite Earth movies.

After a couple more weeks, Lance finally worked up the courage to voice his curiosity and fervently hoped he wasn’t about to make a mistake like during their first conversation.

“Hey, so, can I ask you something?”

Keith eyed him warily over the rim of his tea cup but nodded. They were currently enjoying a picnic under a large tree on the outskirts of the castle grounds.

“Why do you hang out with me so much? Not that I mind,” he hastily added as Keith’s eyebrows began to furrow. “I really enjoy our talks and I’m glad you reached out. I’m just curious as to why. I kinda thought you hated me.”

Keith frowned at the half eaten slice of cake in front of him and bit his lip.

“I...don’t hate you,” he finally said. “In fact, I should probably apologize.”

“What do you mean?”

“When you made that comment about Lotor and me, it kind of hit a sore spot.”

At Lance’s questioning gaze, Keith sighed.

“The Galra aren’t just cutthroat on the battlefield. I’d only been transferred here for a few weeks when Lotor started to court me, and as much as I care for him, Lotor’s affections immediately alienated me from everyone. A lot of people, especially those in the royal guard, think I intentionally seduced Lotor to gain a higher social status.”

His violet eyes flicked up to meet Lance’s.

“So that’s why, when you brought it up, I overreacted. I’m sorry.”

Lance grimaced.

“Nah, man, I totally get it. People accuse you of being, like, a gold digger, and then I made that dumbass comment. It’s a wonder you forgave me at all.”

Keith averted his eyes once again, a faint blush on his cheeks.

“I...don’t really have many friends here in Daibazaal,” he confessed. “Lotor is the crown prince, so he’s often called to meetings that I’m not allowed into until we get married. Matt’s really the only other person I spend time with, but lately he’s been pretty busy too. You and I had a rough start, but once I got to know you better, I realized you’re not actually all that terrible,” he finished with a teasing smile.

Lance’s lips quirked in response. “Gee, thanks.”

Keith ducked his head, his blush more prominent. “This is a little embarrassing, but I guess...something about you feels...safe.” Keith covered his face with his hands. “Sorry, that must sound really weird.”

“No, no!” Lance reassured him as he tried to hide the hollow pit in his stomach. “I feel the same way.”

A single violet eye peeked out between Keith’s fingers. It was unfairly adorable.

“You do?”

“Yeah,” Lance swallowed. “I’m really glad we’re friends, Keith.”

Keith lowered his hands and shot Lance a relieved smile.

“Me too.”

Keith launched into a new conversation about what kinds of food he missed from Earth, and Lance nodded along while dying on the inside. He knew this mission would would test his morals, but quiznack, it was like Keith was purposefully making this harder. Why couldn’t he have been some spoiled, corrupt brat that spit on the common people? It was bad enough that he was actually a decent person, but now Keith was showing Lance his vulnerabilities, his loneliness.

He called Lance safe.

It would be hilarious if it wasn’t so soul crushing. The only reason Lance hadn’t betrayed Keith yet was that they were still never left alone. Even now two royal guards stood watch a respectful distance away.

The only way Lance would be able to complete his mission was if he convinced Keith to trust him enough to ditch his guards, so that Lance could take that trust and shatter it.

A part of him wished he had taken Allura’s offer to give the assignment to another agent, but another, bigger part couldn’t bare the thought of someone else taking advantage of Keith like this. Someone who didn’t care about Keith, who only saw him as a means to an end, a tool to use against the Galra.

So Lance smiled and nodded and memorized every detail of Keith’s beautiful face, as he silently swore that no matter what happened, he would protect Keith as best as he could.

\-----

When Lance met Matt a few nights later, the other rebel wore a troubled expression.

“Lance, I need to ask you a favor,” he said. “Voltron received word of some important intel sent to Lotor today. According to our sources, the data can only be found on his personal computer. I was going to sneak into his room tonight, but the council called a last minute meeting, and I can’t afford to skip it.”

“Can’t you get it another time?” Lance asked.

Matt shook his head. “Apparently this info is extremely time sensitive. We need it tonight.”

“So you want me to get it,” Lance guessed.

“I’m sorry,” Matt said. “I know you’re already under a lot of pressure and this could jeopardize your own mission if you got caught—”

“Nah, man, don’t sweat it,” Lance flapped a hand at him. “It’s just a simple grab and go, right? I’ve done plenty of those. It might even be a nice break from the routine.”

“I don’t know if I’d call breaking into the crown prince’s rooms simple, but thanks,” Matt said with a relieved smile. He pulled two small devices out of his pocket and handed them to Lance. “Here, this will get you past the security code, and the other one is a drive to put the data on. Pidge is already keeping an eye on the camera feeds so you shouldn’t have to worry about that either. You will have to get past the guards though.”

“What about Lotor?” Lance asked as he examined the devices.

“He should be at the meeting with me. Speaking of which, I’d better get going. You probably should too. Once Lotor returns, neither of us will have much luck getting that data.”

Lance nodded and hurried back to his room. Rummaging in his closet, Lance pulled out a servant’s uniform he had pilfered his first week in the castle. Servants were often ignored and rarely questioned, making it the perfect disguise to sneak around in. Lance also used the small amount of Altean magic he possessed to slightly alter his face.

As expected, Lance made it to the prince’s quarters without incident. He peeked into the hallway and blinked. Despite Matt’s warning, no one guarded the prince’s room. Maybe because the prince himself wasn’t in it?

Whatever the reason, Lance wasn’t about to waste such an opportunity and quickly shuffled over. Glancing around suspiciously once more, he held the device Matt had given him up to the passcode mechanism. The screen flashed green and the door unlocked with a click.

Lance slipped through and quietly shut it behind him. He made his way through the living room area, now familiar after spending so much time here with Keith.

The bedroom, however, was new territory, and Lance took a second to brace himself before pushing the door open.

Lance entered and glanced around. Like the rest of the prince’s quarters, the bedroom was opulent and sleek. Several bookcases lined the walls, the shelves filled with literature, small artistic sculptures and various paraphernalia. A cursory glance into the two doors opposite the entrance revealed a luxurious bathroom and walk-in closet. A sheer curtain draped down from the ceiling and obscured the biggest bed Lance had ever seen. Four full grown Galra could probably fit comfortably side by side.

Keith must have looked positively dwarfed in it.

Lance shook away the thought and hurried over to the desk placed aesthetically by one of the windows. After some fumbling, he managed to turn the computer on and find the port for the drive. With a few taps on the holographic keyboard, the files began to download.

“Mmmmph.”

Lance froze. A moment of silence passed and he almost wondered if he had imagined the sound when another soft noise drifted from the bed, accompanied by the rustling of sheets.

Lance dove behind the desk and cautiously peeked around the side. Through the sheer curtain draped around the bed, Lance could see a faint outline of movement. He inwardly cursed at himself. How could he have missed this?

He glanced back up at the screen. The files weren’t even halfway done yet.

But wait. If Keith was here the whole time, why hadn’t he noticed Lance yet? Sure, he might have been asleep when Lance first snuck in, but he was clearly awake now and the light from the screen should have tipped him off that something was amiss.

Another sound pierced the silence, this time more of a high pitched whine. Lance’s jaw dropped. Was he…?

Against his better judgement and the warning bells ringing in his head, Lance moved out from behind the desk and inched closer to the bed. Once within reach, he carefully drew the curtain aside.

Keith laid face down on the mattress, his wrists bound behind him with thin cords of silk. Two long, white ribbons wrapped over his eyes and mouth. His legs were also bound together at the ankles and just above the knees. Keith let out another muffled keen and writhed against his bonds, which brought Lance’s attention to his ass in the air and the vibrator inside.

It was the hottest thing Lance had ever seen.

_Ping!_

Lance’s eyes widened in horror as Keith paused his delicious squirming to turn his head toward where the files had just finished downloading. As quickly and silently as he could, Lance retreated back to the desk, grabbed the drive, and shut off the computer. Before he could make his escape, however, the sound of approaching footsteps made him duck back into his hiding place.

The door opened and Lotor sauntered in.

“Hello, pet. I’m sorry that took so long, but you know how those meetings can be. Luckily I had this to entertain me.”

Lotor pulled a small remote out of his pocket. The click of a button had Keith frantically rolling around on the bed, his moans louder than ever.

Lance was hit with the ridiculous desire to steal the remote and hide it away like it was the universe’s greatest treasure, but he forced himself to stay hidden.

Lotor chuckled and perched on the edge of the mattress. He reached out a hand to thread his fingers through Keith’s hair and brush it out of his face.

“Look at you,” the prince murmured. “So beautiful. So completely helpless. Do you enjoy being at my mercy, Keith? Does the knowledge that I could do anything to you right now and you couldn’t stop me excite you?”

When Keith merely whimpered and shifted closer, Lotor’s grip on his hair suddenly tightened. He pulled on it and leaned down so he and Keith were face to face, even though Keith still couldn’t see him. Keith keened and shuddered.

“Answer me,” the prince snarled.

Keith quickly nodded his head and Lotor relaxed his grip with a smile.

“Good boy.”

The prince stripped and crawled into the bed, drawing the curtain closed behind him. Once Lance was sure Lotor wasn’t about to turn around, he silently snuck out the door that had thankfully been left open.

Back in the safety of his room, Lance finally allowed himself to breathe.

Quiznack. How the hell was he supposed to face Keith tomorrow knowing he could look and sound like that? Sure, he had always known Keith was attractive, but this was another matter entirely. He couldn’t help but wonder if Keith liked being tied up or if he was just going along with the prince’s request. Would he be as enthusiastic if Lance was the one who had bound him? Would he happily open those pretty lips for a gag and submit himself to Lance?

Lance shook his head and tried to push away such thoughts. He had to focus on the mission. He’d already allowed himself to get too close, he couldn’t afford to let this...infatuation get any stronger.

As Lance closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, he idly wondered if a part of Keith would actually enjoy getting kidnapped.

\-----

After that night, Lance tried to put some distance between himself and Keith. Not enough to hurt their budding friendship, as that would be detrimental to the mission, but just enough to allow Lance to concentrate on anything besides what Keith sounded like in bed.

For awhile it worked. Lance threw himself into his cover job, negotiated peace talks on behalf of a nonexistent Altean colony, and learned more about the affairs of Daibazaal’s elite. He met with Matt who told him the information he had stolen was successfully transmitted and had probably saved hundreds of lives. Lance even figured out how to sneak into the kitchens for a late night snack without getting caught.

Then Keith invited him to spend the afternoon together.

Lance considered refusing, but he had blown Keith off twice already and any more might be suspicious.

Not to mention, Lance saw the uncertainty and self doubt in his violet eyes and remembered what Keith had said about feeling lonely and having no one else in the castle to turn to. He’d never be able to forgive himself if he made Keith build even more walls around his heart. At least, not if he could help it.

So Lance agreed and tried his best to harden his own heart as Keith happily led him to a new area in the gardens.

“I’ve really been looking forward to this,” Keith said as he unlocked a wrought iron gate. “The weather’s been pretty nice lately, but now it’s finally warm enough to come here.”

Lance followed him through the gate and stared. Though sectioned off, the area was still very much a part of the gardens, with flowers and other beautiful flora scattered around. A massive tree covered in red blossoms grew from the ground, its branches stretching out to canopy most of the area in cool shade. Crimson petals drifted down to float on the surface of the large, clear pond that was the centerpiece of the whole picture.

Any hope Lance might have had of forgetting how much he wanted Keith flew out the window when the boy started taking off his clothes.

“What are you doing?” Lance squeaked, torn between turning around to give Keith privacy and memorizing as much as he could before Keith came to his senses.

Keith blinked, nonplussed.

“Um, changing?” he replied. “To swim?”

Keith’s eyes slid pointedly over to the large pool.

“Oh…” Lance snuck a look back at the guard posted by the gate but she seemed unaffected by her boss’ lack of clothes.

“Sorry, I thought you knew what we were doing,” Keith said. “If you don’t want to swim, we can go do something else.”

Lance risked a peek and was relieved to see Keith wasn’t completely nude. He was sporting a pair of what looked suspiciously like swim trunks from Earth. Still, there was an awful lot of distracting skin on display.

“No,” Lance cleared his throat and shot Keith a wide grin. “I love swimming. I was just surprised, is all.”

Keith smiled back.

“You can borrow a swimsuit from over there,” he pointed out a closet partially hidden behind a wall of ivy.

As Lance selected a pair of trunks similar to Keith’s, though blue where Keith’s were red, Keith waded into the water. Lance quickly changed behind a folding screen, also covered in ivy to blend in, and walked over to find Keith floating on his back.

Lance took a moment to admire the image of Keith drifting peacefully in the crystal clear pond, eyes closed and oblivious to the soft petals that lazily danced around him, catching in his hair like a crown.

Lance almost didn’t want to disturb him, but Keith’s eyes fluttered open and he shot Lance a smile.

“Well?” he said. “Are you coming in or not?”

Lance blinked away his daze and slipped into the pond. The water was pleasantly cool and the petals from the tree created a faintly sweet aroma. Movement caught his eye and Lance was surprised to notice tiny fish swimming around them, their bright scales flashing in the sun.

Keith closed his eyes again with a sigh.

“I needed this,” he said.

“Rough day?” Lance had to physically stop himself from brushing a wet lock of hair from where it was stuck to Keith’s cheek.

“More like rough week,” Keith scoffed. “I don’t know why, but Lotor’s been impossible to deal with the last few days.”

Lance’s attention snapped from watching the drops of water run down Keith’s skin as his blood ran cold.

“Oh?” he asked casually.

“Yeah,” Keith frowned. “I think something happened. He tries to hide it, but I can tell he’s pissed about something.”

That something was probably Voltron thwarting his plans thanks to the data Lance stole.

“I wish he would just talk to me,” Keith muttered. “It’s bad enough most of the court doesn’t think I’m worthy of being the prince’s consort. I know he’s just trying to protect me, but how am I supposed to do my duty as his spouse if he won’t let me help him?”

Keith shot Lance an apologetic look.

“Sorry, I don’t mean to burden you with my problems. It’s just frustrating.”

“No, no,” Lance shook his head. “It doesn’t bother me at all. That’s what friends are for, right?”

Keith smiled and then seemed to hesitate for a moment. His eyes flicked over to the guard still posted by the gate before he swam closer to Lance, his gaze serious. Lance was briefly distracted by the sudden proximity of a wet, mostly nude Keith, but the other boy’s next words jolted him out of it faster than any cold shower.

“You might want to be careful,” Keith warned. “I think Lotor suspects there’s a mole, and his instincts are rarely wrong. You should remain vigilant, and be wary of who you trust.”

“Right,” Lance stared helplessly into Keith’s eyes. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

\-----

Needless to say, Lance was extra on edge the next few days after Keith’s warning. He paid even greater attention in his meetings, mentally reviewed his cover story, and didn’t sneak out after dark, not even to get a midnight snack from the kitchens.

Lance almost had a heart attack when he went to meet Keith for lunch and found Prince Lotor sitting next to him.

“Lance!” Keith greeted. “I was starting to worry you wouldn’t show up today.”

“Uh, sorry,” Lance said, shaking his head to snap out of his shock. “My meeting went a little long.”

“I hope you don’t mind if I join you,” Lotor said as Lance took a seat across from the couple. “I happened to get a rare moment of freedom, and wished to spend it with my betrothed.”

“Not at all,” Lance said. “In fact, I can leave if you two want some alone time…”

Lotor looked like he was about to say something but Keith cut in.

“But we already made plans. Lotor doesn’t mind,” he peeked up at the prince through his lashes, “right?”

After a short pause, Lotor smiled indulgently.

“Of course not, pet.”

As the minutes passed, Lance kind of wished Keith hadn’t said anything. While he appreciated Keith standing up for their friendship, it meant Lance now had to awkwardly eat his meal while the other two discussed some book series Lance had never even heard of. Keith would try to include Lance in the conversation but Lotor always smoothly switched the topic before Lance could get more than a few words in. In a way, it was kind of impressive.

Lance also noticed that every now and then, whenever Keith’s wasn’t paying attention, Lotor would shoot Lance a look of subtle distaste. At first it confused Lance, but as it kept happening, Lance actually found himself starting to relax.

When he first saw the prince, Lance thought for sure this was some kind of ploy to ferret him out as the mole. But no, Lance now realized Lotor was just...jealous. Of Lance and the time Lance had been spending with Keith.

Which, given how deep Lance’s feelings had become for the prince’s fiancé, was a terrifying prospect on its own.

But not nearly as terrifying as discovery.

And so, Lance lowered his eyes under the prince’s gaze as if to tell him his message was received loud and clear.

Lotor turned his attention back to Keith with a smug glint in his eye, and Lance breathed a silent sigh of relief.

\-----

Lance and Keith were walking to the gardens for another swim when a commotion down the hall caught their attention. They turned to see General Sendak storm towards the council room, two soldiers on his heels. In between them struggled a single prisoner.

It was Matt.

Lance’s stomach dropped. He turned to gauge Keith’s reaction only to find the other boy already striding down the hall. Lance hurried to catch up with him.

“What’s going on here?” Keith demanded as he planted himself in front of Sendak.

Sendak sneered down at the smaller Galra.

“Out of the way, whelp,” he said. “Why don’t you just run back to Lotor’s bed where you belong and leave matters of state to the real soldiers?”

Keith’s eyes flashed and Lance was guiltily reminded of his own thoughtless comment from when he and Keith first met. No wonder Keith had reacted the way he did, if this was how his fellow Galra treated him.

Just as Lance worried Keith and Sendak were about to throw hands right here in the hallway, Prince Lotor made an appearance.

“What’s going on? Why is Matt in handcuffs?”

Sendak immediately dismissed Keith and turned to the prince. Lance could feel Keith bristle with anger beside him.

“Your Highness,” the General saluted, “I just caught our mole.”

“Matt?” Lotor’s eyebrows rose.

“Yes, Sire. He was snooping around the control room,” Sendak pulled a small device out of his pocket that looked similar to the drive Matt had lent Lance to steal data from Lotor’s computer, “with this.”

Lotor took the drive and examined it. He turned to Matt with cold eyes.

“Prince Lotor, this is all just a big misunderstanding,” Matt laughed nervously.

“Silence, traitor!” Sendak spat. “Take him away!”

“Wait!” Keith looked up at Lotor with pleading eyes. “At least hear him out before you throw him in a cell.”

The prince’s gaze moved from his fiancé to Sendak to Matt.

“If Matt has a reasonable explanation,” Lotor finally said, “he can make his case to the royal interrogators.”

Matt turned white as a sheet, and Lance probably didn’t look much different.

“Best not keep them waiting,” Lotor added lightly.

The guards obediently started to drag Matt down the hall, Sendak smugly in the lead.

Keith looked frantically between them before he reached out to clutch Lotor’s sleeve.

“Lotor, please,” Keith begged. “This has to be some kind of mistake.”

Lotor regarded the shorter boy and his eyes softened. With more care than Lance thought the prince was capable of, Lotor gently pried Keith’s fingers away and clasped Keith’s hand in his larger ones.

“I’m sorry, pet,” Lotor said. “I know he was a good friend of yours. And perhaps our interrogators will find Matt really is innocent, and he can go free. But if not,” Lotor’s eyes darkened, “you must be prepared for the worst.”

“The worst?” Keith repeated.

Lotor sighed and used his grip on Keith to tuck him into his side. “Never mind that now. Let’s retire for the day, shall we?”

Without a backward glance, the two left Lance alone in the hall.

\-----

As soon as Lance got to his rooms, he triple checked the place wasn’t bugged before digging into the secret compartment in his luggage for his communicator. He was only supposed to use it when his mission was complete or in the event of an emergency. He was pretty sure this qualified.

“Pidge, are you there?”

The small device crackled in his ear and Pidge’s tinny voice said, “Pidge here. Do you have the package?”

“Not yet. There’s been a problem.”

“What’s wrong? Do you need an emergency extraction?”

“Yes, but not for me,” Lance paused. “They arrested Matt.”

Silence reigned for a long moment until Lance prompted, “Pidge?”

“I...yeah, sorry. Hold on.”

Lance could barely make out the sounds of tapping on a keyboard.

“Okay, I can get a rescue team sent out, but even with a wormhole they won’t get there until tomorrow night. Not to mention, the castle’s gonna be on total lockdown. If they activated the particle barrier, we won’t be able to get through.”

Lance hummed thoughtfully.

“You guys can’t get in, but could someone get out?”

“Theoretically, yes. Leaving the barrier is different from entering it. It has to do with the way the particles are—”

“My point,” interrupted Lance, “is that if I got Matt off the castle grounds and to the barrier, would you guys be able to get him?”

Pidge paused.

“Lance,” she said slowly, “that’s a huge risk.”

“I know.”

“You have your own mission to worry about.”

“I know.”

“If you’re caught—”

“I _know_ , Pidge,” Lance pinched the bridge of his nose. “But it’s Matt.”

Matt, Pidge’s dorky brother, who played video games with them whenever he visited between missions. Matt, who could disarm an opponent in under a minute but cried when he got a paper cut. Matt, the only one who truly shared Lance’s sense of humor.

“If you get him to the barrier, we have a device that would allow him through without alerting the Galra,” Pidge finally answered.

“Okay,” Lance took a deep breath. “Keep me posted on the rescue team’s ETA, and I’ll get Matt out tomorrow night.”

“I’ll send you coordinates for where to meet them,” Pidge paused and then in a softer voice said, “Thank you, Lance.”

\-----

Lance snuck through the corridors in his stolen servants clothes, face altered once more with Altean magic.

He knew this was stupid. If Lance was caught, his entire mission would be over. And it wasn’t like Matt didn’t know the risks when he took the undercover assignment. They all knew.

Even so, he had to try. If something happened to Matt and Lance could have done something to stop it, but didn’t, Lance wouldn’t be able to live with himself.

At least, thanks to Pidge, he didn’t have to worry about the surveillance cameras.

Lance made his way down to the prison cells beneath the castle but before he could get passed the first security door, he came to a sudden halt.

The two guards posted on either side were sitting slumped over on the floor.

Lance moved to check if they were unconscious or dead, but the access pad beeped to signal the door was about to open, forcing Lance to dive back around the corner to hide.

The door slid open and a figure stepped through dressed in an all black bodysuit with a hood. Glowing purple lines decorated his chestplate and mask.

Leaning heavily against him, one arm slung over the mysterious stranger’s shoulders, was Matt, his face littered with cuts and bruises, and one of his legs bent awkwardly.

Their slow shuffle stopped as Lance stepped out of his hiding place, gun drawn.

“Let him go,” Lance ordered.

Matt weakly raised his hand.

“La—Sharpshooter, wait,” he said. “It’s okay. This guy is with the Blade of Marmora. He’s helping me escape.”

Lance eyed the stranger warily. The outfit looked familiar, but Lance had never met a Blade in person before. Though technically allies, the Blade and Voltron rarely crossed paths.

“Why is the Blade helping you?” Lance asked. “From what I hear, they rarely rescue their own members, let alone ours.”

“That’s none of your concern,” the Blade replied, his voice masked by some kind of computerized filter.

“It kind of is, actually,” Lance scowled. “I already have an extraction set up and I don’t need you getting in the way.”

The Blade seemed to consider this, though it was hard to tell with the mask, and then nodded.

“Then I will merely help you get to your rendezvous point.”

“Thanks, but no thanks. I’ve got it from here.”

“It’s less dangerous if we work together.”

“Yeah, maybe it would be if I trusted you, but I don’t.”

“Can you two please stop arguing so we can go?” Matt cut in. “The guards could wake up any minute, and I think I’m bleeding internally.”

Lance and the Blade exchanged glares, or at least Lance assumed they did, because, again, mask, but Lance grudgingly walked to Matt’s side to pull his other arm over his shoulders.

“This way,” Lance said gruffly.

Lance led them to Pidge’s coordinates, keeping an eye out for guards. After about twenty adrenaline filled minutes, they were out of the building and walking towards the particle barrier. As they drew closer, Lance could make out the faint silhouettes of his fellow rebels waiting on the other side.

A hole opened up in the barrier just big enough for Matt to get through.

“Thank you. Both of you,” Matt said from the other side as the hole shrank shut.

Lance smiled back and the Blade merely nodded.

Once the team helped Matt onto their small ship and took off into the atmosphere, Lance turned, fully intending to interrogate their unexpected ally.

But the Blade was gone.

\-----

“Prince Lotor would like to see you.”

Lance stilled for a second before finishing the rest of his juice. At least they had let him finish his breakfast first.

“Alright,” he stood up and motioned to the servant. “Lead the way.”

Once the servant dropped him off at Lotor’s quarters, Lance knocked on the door frame of the open study.

“Ah, Lance,” Lotor looked up from his datapad. “Good.”

“You wanted to see me, Sire?”

“Yes, please have a seat. And close the door behind you.”

Lance obeyed, heart in his throat. Some of his trepidation must have shone through because the prince chuckled.

“No need to be nervous. This is merely a routine questioning.”

“Is this about Matt, Sire?”

“Indeed. I’m sure you’ve heard by now, but the rebel escaped last night. The particle barrier was untouched, which means we still have at least one traitor in our midst. As such, I am questioning anyone who might have noticed anything...suspicious.”

“I see.”

“You and Matt were friends, yes? Don’t look so alarmed,” he added, “if I suspected everyone Matt got close to, I’d have to arrest half my staff.”

Lance swallowed and nodded.

“We spent time together,” he said. “Usually with Keith. Y’know, bonding over memories of Earth and all that.”

“Ah, yes,” Lotor’s eyes glimmered in a way that immediately set Lance on edge. “You’re quite close to Keith, aren’t you?”

“Like I said,” Lance answered slowly, “we talk about Earth a lot. I think he misses it more than he’ll admit.”

Lotor hummed and looked back down at his datapad. The tension inside Lance’s chest uncoiled slightly now that the prince focused his piercing gaze elsewhere.

“This was found among Matt’’s possessions,” Lotor turned the screen so Lance could see. “Does it look at all familiar to you?”

It was a communicator identical to the one Lance used to call Pidge.

Lance shook his head. “Is it some kind of hacking tool? He was after information, right?”

“A good guess, but no,” Lotor pulled the tablet back and tapped on it. “Our researchers say that it’s a communication device, and while they weren’t able to trace the signal, they did figure out who made it.”

“Oh?”

“The coding had all the markings of Voltron.”

“Huh.”

“You don’t seem surprised,” the prince noted.

Lance shrugged. “Well, Voltron is the biggest rebel alliance in the Galra Empire. Statistically speaking, Matt had a greater chance of being a part of Voltron than any other group.”

“I suppose that’s true,” Lotor’s lips quirked.

After a long pause, Lance said, “So, do you have any more questions, or can I go? No disrespect, Sire, but I do have a lot of work to do today.”

“I don’t have any more questions, but I’m afraid you can’t leave quite yet.”

Lance blinked. “Why not?”

“You see, we found this device hidden in a secret compartment in Matt’s things. It would be remiss of us to not search everyone else’s rooms for similar hiding places.” Lotor glanced at the large clock on the wall. “They should be done with yours in about ten dobashes.”

They sat in silence, Lotor’s cold gaze never leaving Lance’s as the spy tried very hard not to think about being a spy.

After an eternity had passed, a sharp knock rapped on the prince’s door.

“Enter,” Lotor said, his eyes still unwavering.

The door opened and Sendak stepped inside.

“The search is complete, Sire.”

“And?”

“His rooms were clean,” Sendak narrowed his good eye. “But we haven’t yet searched his person.”

Lance shrugged and raised his hands innocently.

“Go ahead, I’ve got nothing to hide.”

Lotor’s stoic face studied Lance before breaking out into a small smile.

“That won’t be necessary. You may go.”

Lance stood and bowed before calmly walking past Sendak and out of the prince’s quarters.

As he made his way back to his no doubt ransacked rooms, Lance mentally reminded himself to retrieve his communicator from the gardens later that night. Hopefully whatever animal owned the nest he’d stashed it in didn’t mistake the device for food before then.

\-----

Lance stayed vigilant over the next few weeks, but no one accused him of working for Voltron again. The only real difference from before was the absence of Matt and the addition of Lotor in Lance and Keith’s outings. The prince seemed reluctant to let his fiancé out of his sight now that he knew a spy was capable of getting so close.

Keith didn’t appear to mind the prince’s presence at first, but in a rare moment where the prince was called away to business, Keith confessed to Lance he was beginning to feel smothered by Lotor’s constant hovering.

Lance just wondered how he was supposed to abduct Keith now that security was tighter than ever.

One night, Lance was just about to go to bed when he heard a soft knock at his door. Padding over, he opened it to find a nervous-looking Keith.

“Hey,” Lance greeted. “What’s up?”

Keith bit his lip.

“Can I come in?”

“Of course,” Lance stepped aside to let the other boy through and glanced around. “Where are your guards?”

“I snuck out,” Keith confessed as he plopped down on Lance’s couch. “Lotor and I had a big fight, and I didn’t want to deal with him or his lackeys.”

Lance’s heart pounded as adrenaline kicked in. This was the first time they had ever been alone. Maybe his only chance to complete his mission. But he couldn’t afford to be careless, so Lance walked over to Keith with a sympathetic smile.

“I’m sorry, man. Do you want to talk about it? I’ll even make some relaxing tea.”

Keith smiled weakly. “That would be great, thank you.”

As Lance prepared two cups, Keith recounted his evening.

“It started off the same as normal,” he grumbled. “We had dinner and talked about everything and nothing, like we do most nights. But then Matt somehow came up, and Lotor started talking about what a vile traitor he was, and I know I should have kept my mouth shut, but I just got so mad.”

Lance hummed and sprinkled a sleeping drug into Keith’s cup.

“And then, of course, Lotor acted like I was being an idiot, as if I didn’t realize Matt was just acting nice to get information. Of course I know that! But I also know that Matt must have had his reasons. Lotor was making him out to be some kind of evil mastermind, but I know that’s not true.”

Keith sighed as Lance brought over the tea.

“As you can imagine, Lotor didn’t agree,” Keith said wryly.

“Here you go.”

“Thanks,” Keith took the drink with a grateful smile.

Lance watched as Keith sipped it and tried to shove down the guilt broiling inside of him.

“I’m sorry,” Keith said again. “I just...needed someone to talk to, I guess. Lotor doesn’t understand. I know Matt was just pretending to be my friend, but to me it was real, and I can’t just turn off my feelings, you know?”

“I do,” Lance replied. “Believe me, I do.”

They sat in companionable silence until Keith sighed again and set down his empty cup. “I’d better get back. The guards will probably notice I’m gone soon.”

He stood up and staggered. Lance quickly caught him and gently lowered Keith back onto the couch. Keith’s eyelids drooped as he struggled to remain conscious.

“What…” Keith looked at Lance with confusion, realization, and finally, fear. “You…”

“I’m sorry,” Lance whispered. “It’ll be alright. I won’t let any harm come to you, I swear it.”

He clutched Keith’s frame as the boy went limp. He allowed himself a moment of self-loathing, then carefully laid Keith down and went to grab his supplies from his room.

He shortly returned to find Keith hadn’t moved an inch. The drug should last for at least a few hours, but just to be safe, Lance started preparing the gag so that on the off chance Keith woke up prematurely, he wouldn’t be able to call for the guards.

Lance balled up a piece of cloth and tucked it into Keith’s mouth. He tied another strip over Keith’s lips so he couldn’t spit it out. Lance then grabbed the ropes Allura had given him. They were thin and lightweight, but incredibly strong. Lance quickly tied Keith’s legs together at the ankles and thighs, then rolled the raven-haired boy onto his stomach to bind his wrists behind his back. Shifting Keith back into a sitting position, Lance wrapped more rope around his chest.

After making sure he had everything he needed and that nothing left behind would give away Voltron or his true identity, Lance turned on his communicator.

“Pidge, I have the package. I need an extraction, now.”

Lance listened to her instructions as he picked up Keith and threw him over his shoulder. Keith let out a tiny groan, but didn’t wake up.

With Pidge’s tinny voice in his ear, Lance made his way to the docking station. The palace was crawling with guards, but between Pidge hacking the security system and Lance’s stealth, he managed to get there without incident.

Right on cue, Pidge created a distraction to draw the sentries away and allow Lance to board the small ship he had brought. Lance gently placed Keith in the co-pilot’s chair and buckled his seat belt. Lance then plopped down in his own seat and gripped the controls.

They shot off into the sky with none the wiser.

\-----

They were a few hours out and the adrenaline had finally worn off when a small noise caught Lance’s attention. He turned to the co-pilot’s seat to see Keith groggily blink awake.

Violet eyes looked around in confusion for a moment and then widened in alarm. Keith frantically began to struggle against the ropes that bound him.

Worried the other boy would hurt himself, Lance hastily switched the ship to autopilot and walked the short distance between their chairs.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Lance reached out a hand and tried not to feel hurt when Keith shrank away. Swallowing, Lance withdrew and held both hands up in a peaceful gesture. “I’m not gonna hurt you, I promise. Just calm down, and I’ll take the gag off, okay?”

Keith eyed him warily but nodded. Careful not to make any sudden movements, Lance untied the strip around Keith’s head and pulled the cloth out of his mouth.

“What the fuck, Lance?” Keith demanded.

Lance sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

“I’m sorry,” he said, “I can’t tell you everything. Actually, I can’t really tell you anything right now. But you’re not in any danger.”

“Not in danger?” Keith repeated incredulously. “You kidnapped me!”

Lance winced but didn’t really have a counter for that. At his silence, Keith scowled.

“What do you even want?”

“I can’t tell you that.”

“Who do you work for?”

“I can’t tell you that.”

“Where are we going? Wait,” Keith sneered, “let me guess. You can’t tell me that?”

Lance clenched his fists and shook his head. Keith scoffed.

“Well can you at least untie me?”

Lance quirked an eyebrow. “Yeah, no, I don’t think so. Idiots like Sendak might underestimate you, but I know full well you could knock me out and turn the ship around. Just sit tight. We should arrive at our destination in about six varga.”

Keith pouted but didn’t argue. Lance returned to his chair and took control of the ship.

Another varga passed in silence. Keith apparently got tired of burning holes into the side of Lance’s head because the weight of his stare suddenly disappeared. Relieved but curious, Lance looked over to see Keith now glaring out the window with a faint blush dusting his cheeks. Out of the corner of his eye, Lance watched as Keith shifted in his seat. After a moment, he found the courage to speak.

“You okay?”

Keith turned his gaze back to Lance. “What?”

“You keep moving around.”

“Oh, well excuse me if I’m having trouble getting comfortable,” Keith snapped as he pointedly squirmed against his bonds.

“I don’t think the ropes are the problem,” Lance looked down at Keith’s lap.

Keith turned bright red. With a furious expression, he brought his legs up to curl in front of his chest and turned as best he could away from Lance.

Lance, for his part, kind of felt like an asshole. This was obviously a terrible situation for Keith and Lance had just piled embarrassment on top of the mountain of other negative emotions Keith was no doubt experiencing. Should he apologize? Or would Keith prefer it if he just pretended like the last few minutes never happened?

“Sorry,” he finally blurted out. “That was uncalled for. I didn’t mean to make fun of you. Hell, seeing you like this makes me a little excited too.” Lance paled. “Oh god, that sounded super creepy, didn’t it? I swear, I would never take advantage—”

“Lance,” Keith grit out between clenched teeth. “Just stop talking.”

Lance snapped his mouth shut with a click.

After a few more excruciating hours, Lance reluctantly turned to Keith.

“Hey, uh, we’re getting pretty close, so you’re gonna have to wear a blindfold for the rest of the trip. Sorry, but we can’t risk you knowing our location.”

Keith sighed. “Honestly, I’m surprised it took this long. I do know what sector this is, you know.”

Lance shrugged as he retrieved the strip of cloth. “Yeah, but this is just a pit stop. We’ll actually be wormholing to our final destination.”

“Wormhole? Wait,” Keith’s eyes widened. “You’re with Voltron?”

Shit. Oh well, Keith would have found out soon enough anyway. Lance quickly tied the cloth over Keith’s eyes and returned to his seat.

“What, you’re just going to ignore me now?”

“I already told you I can’t answer your questions.”

“Nobody else has that technology, Lance.”

Lance remained stubbornly silent.

“So does this mean you and Matt worked together?”

“Keith,” Lance warned.

“What?” Though he couldn’t see Keith’s eyes, Lance could tell from the bow of his lips he was scowling. “I think I deserve to know if the two people I trusted most were conspiring together behind my back this whole time.”

“Stop asking questions or the gag goes back on,” Lance snapped.

Keith turned away, a dusting of pink peeking from below the blindfold. Lance briefly wondered if Keith would find the rest of the trip more enjoyable gagged, but shook the thought away.

“At least tell me if he’s alright,” Keith muttered. “I know the guards beat him up pretty bad before he escaped.”

Lance sighed and tightened his grip on the controls.

“I don’t know,” he confessed. “But I’ll see what I can find out.”

They lapsed into a silence that remained until Lance glided into the Voltron Headquarters docking bay. He undid Keith’s seatbelt and slid his arms under Keith’s knees and behind his back. Lance tried to ignore the close proximity of Keith’s pretty face as he carried him down the ship’s loading ramp.

Lance’s mission was top secret so the only one waiting for him at the bottom was Allura. Wordlessly, she nodded at him to follow and walked away. Allura led him through the halls and into a small room that would have resembled a hotel room if it weren’t for the amount of security. At Allura’s gesture, Lance set Keith down on a chair and removed the blindfold.

Blinking as he adjusted to the light, Keith looked around. His gaze was swift and calculating as he took in his surroundings. Lance was reminded once again that Keith wasn’t just the pretty fiancé of a prince, but a warrior in his own right, one familiar with dangerous situations, and who knew how to catalogue his environment for weak spots.

Finally, his gaze landed on Allura, who had been patiently waiting for him to finish casing the room.

“Hello, Keith,” she greeted. “My apologies for bringing you here against your will. I am Princess Allura of Altea, leader of the rebel group Voltron.”

“Prove it.”

Allura blinked. “Excuse me?”

Lance was similarly taken aback. He had expected Keith to ask why Voltron wanted him, or maybe demand they let him go, but it certainly never occurred to him that Keith would question Allura’s identity.

Keith however, didn’t waver as he stared cooly at the two Alteans.

“You heard me. Prove you’re Princess Allura.”

“I…” Allura floundered for a moment. “What would you accept as evidence?”

Keith considered this for a moment.

“Show me your family seal.”

Lance took a step forward. “You can’t just—”

Allura stopped him with a raised hand. Eyes locked with Keith’s, she slowly drew a large pendant from where it hung beneath her clothes and held it out for Keith to examine. The crystal embedded in the center glowed with Altean magic that couldn’t be replicated.

Seemingly satisfied, Keith nodded and leaned back in his chair.

“Okay, I believe you.”

Allura tucked the pendant away and looked at him with scrutinizing eyes.

“Why were you so suspicious in the first place?”

Keith shrugged. Lance noticed he looked a lot less concerned about being kidnapped than before.

“Honestly? Up until now I was half convinced this was all an elaborate ruse by Lotor to test my loyalty.”

“What?” Allura frowned. “Why would he do such a thing?”

“Probably because I’m an assassin working for the Blade of Marmora.” Keith glanced between Lance and Allura’s stunned faces. “Can someone untie me now?”

\-----

Lance sighed as he re-entered Keith’s room. Allura was still in a video conference with Kolivan as they discussed how to proceed. Voltron and the Blade were technically allies, but they were first and foremost spy agencies and didn’t share information unless absolutely necessary. It had never really been a problem until now.

Keith looked up from his dinner. “I take it you managed to contact the Blade?”

Lance nodded and plopped down in the other seat. “Allura’s talking to Kolivan now. I still can’t believe you’re an undercover agent. No offense, but I always thought you were kind of a terrible liar.”

Keith grimaced. “To be fair, my area of expertise is based more in violence than subterfuge. I’m not good with people, but I do know thirty-eight ways to kill someone and make it look like an accident.”

Lance arched an eyebrow. “If that’s true, how did you end up with this assignment?”

Lance’s curiosity grew as Keith flushed, his shoulders hunching up around his ears.

“It wasn’t on purpose,” he admitted. “Originally, I was assigned to the royal guard to gather intel. But then Lotor took notice of me. At first I thought for sure he had realized I was a spy. I lived in constant terror for weeks just waiting for him to throw me in prison, or worse. Imagine my surprise when instead he asked to court me,” Keith chuckled weakly. “I had no idea what to do. I finally managed to contact the Blade and they decided they couldn’t miss such an opportunity. My new assignment was to get as close to Lotor as possible, steal his secrets, and, if deemed necessary, take him out.”

Lance whistled lowly. “Well, you sure convinced me,” he said.

“It helped that I wasn’t really using a persona. I still don’t really get it, but Lotor seemed to like me for me, so as long as I just acted like myself, he kept me around,” Keith fiddled with the ends of his hair. “Honestly, a part of me likes being with him. I wouldn’t have been able to continue this long otherwise. Sometimes I wonder, if things had been different, if he wasn’t the heir to the empire that destroyed my whole life, then maybe…” his eyes darkened, “but...I know my mission, and if the time comes to carry it out, I won’t hesitate.”

Keith glanced up at Lance. “You understand, don’t you?”

He did. It was remarkably similar to how he felt about Keith. He was glad Keith turned out to be on their side, but they both knew Lotor wouldn’t give Keith such an easy solution.

The door opened and Allura stepped in.

“I’ve spoken to Kolivan,” she said. “We’ve decided that this little mix up won’t affect our plan. We will use Keith as a hostage against Lotor, and once Lotor rescues him, Keith will continue his assignment.” Allura turned to Keith. “Honestly, even if we had known your true identity, things probably still would have happened as they did. The only difference is we would have staged the kidnapping rather than actually abducting you.”

Keith shot her a weak grin. “Well, at least this guaranteed it looked realistic.”

Allura’s lips quirked. “Quite.”

“You still haven’t told me why you kidnapped me,” Keith pointed out. “What do you want from Lotor?”

“A hostage exchange. You for Takashi Shirogane.”

Keith’s eyes widened. “The Galra have Shiro?”

“You know Shiro?” Lance asked.

“Back on Earth, before Shiro was recruited by Voltron and I joined the Blade,” Keith explained, “he was like a brother to me. I haven’t seen or heard from him in years. I had no idea he’d been captured.”

“The Galra have kept surprisingly quiet about it,” Allura said, “which led us to believe Lotor is the one who has him. Any less cunning generals would have made their victory quite public so they could boast, but Lotor has remained silent, no doubt so we wouldn’t figure out where he was keeping Shiro. It worked, and thus we have had to rely on more extreme measures.”

“I see,” Keith nodded. “I’ll do everything I can to help get him back.”

“Thank you, Keith,” Allura smiled. “We’ve sent Lotor the ransom note, so now it’s just a matter of waiting for his response and negotiating if necessary. Although you are no longer our prisoner, I’m afraid I must insist you stay in this room for the sake of keeping up the ruse. Most of our agents don’t even know you’re here in the first place.”

“That’s probably best for both our missions,” Keith shrugged. “No offense, but on the off chance Lotor has a double agent here, I can’t risk being seen acting friendly with you all.”

“Then we’re in agreement. And you don’t need to be alone,” Allura turned to Lance, “I’m sure Lance would be willing to keep you company, since there’s not much for him to do until the exchange.”

Lance blinked but hastily agreed. “Yeah, of course.”

“Excellent. I’ll let you know if the situation develops further.”

With those parting words, Allura turned on her heel and exited the room.

\-----

They were in the middle of a card game several hours later when Lance’s head snapped up.

“You were the Blade that helped Matt escape!”

Keith raised an eyebrow. “Did you just now figure that out?”

“Well,” Lance flailed, “you seemed so worried about what happened to him when we were on the ship!”

“It’s called acting. I still didn’t know if I could trust you yet, remember?”

Lance frowned at his cards, but didn’t really see them.

“So then, all that stuff you said about your and Lotor’s fight? Was that fake too?” He couldn’t fathom how such a thing would benefit Keith’s mission.

Keith grimaced.

“No, that was real,” he admitted. “I think what Lotor said about Matt being an evil traitor hit a little too close to home, and I snapped. I know I shouldn’t, but a part of me does care about Lotor, and the thought of him feeling that way about _me_...I was stupid, and reacted poorly. Hell, I might’ve blown my cover if I’d stuck around in that mindset, so,” he shot Lance a crooked grin. “Thanks, I guess, for getting me out of there.”

“Any time,” Lance replied. “But then, why did you come to me? Like you said, you still didn’t know if you could trust me at that point.”

Keith flushed and looked down at his hand.

“Again, I wasn’t in the most rational state,” he fiddled with the playing cards. “I guess my instinct was that you were safe.”

“And then I kidnapped you,” Lance said wryly.

“Yes,” Keith smiled. “But now that I’m here, talking to you, I think my instincts were right after all.”

Lance felt a flush rise to his cheeks and cleared his throat.

“Got any fours?”

“Go fish.”

\-----

There was still no word from Lotor the next day, so Lance returned to Keith’s room to keep him company.

“What’s that?” Keith asked, pointing to the bag of goodies in Lance’s hand.

Lance grinned.

“I borrowed some stuff from a friend of mine. Figured we could watch some old Earth movies.”

Lance fished a device out of the bag and looked around. Since it was technically a cell meant to hold Keith prisoner, the room didn’t have much in the way of furniture. After some consideration, Lance placed the device on the foot of the bed and turned it on. A large holographic touch screen materialized above it, depicting a selection of entertainment options.

“Pidge has a pretty big collection on here so I’m sure we can find something. There are also video games if we get bored later.”

As Lance browsed through the titles, Keith sat next to him on the bed. After about twenty minutes of arguing over what to watch, they decided on a series of action films. Lance dug some snacks out of his bag for them to share and settled back into the pillows propped against the head of the bed.

The two boys steadily made their way through the franchise, trading quips about the corny dialogue, the protagonist’s poor life choices, and his even poorer attempts at romance. Lance got so into it, he didn’t even notice that he and Keith had shifted closer to each other until halfway through the fourth film when he felt a warm weight on his shoulder.

Lance looked down to find Keith leaning against him, his eyes closed and breath even. Lance swallowed as he examined the long black lashes fanned against pale cheeks and the pink lips slightly parted in slumber.

A loud explosion from the movie jolted Lance out of his reverie and startled Keith awake. Lance quickly turned his gaze back to the screen and hoped his blush wasn’t too obvious in the room’s dim lighting.

“Oh, I fell asleep,” Keith sat up and rubbed one eye adorably. “Sorry, what did I miss?”

Lance had no idea because he’d been too busy memorizing the finer details of Keith’s face. He shrugged and said it was nothing important. The movies didn’t have much in the way of plot, so Keith accepted this answer with a hum. Now that he was awake, Lance expected the raven-haired boy to move away, but instead Keith hesitantly placed his head back on Lance’s shoulder.

“Is this...okay?” Keith asked, his eyes glued to the screen.

Lance nodded and the warmth in his chest grew. The hero reached the climactic battle but Lance didn’t pay any attention as he mustered up the courage to brush his hand against Keith’s. After a moment, Keith’s hand turned over so Lance could thread their fingers together.

Keith and Lance finally looked at each other. Lance felt a little less nervous when he saw that Keith’s cheeks were as pink as his. He stared into Keith’s big, dark eyes, once again marvelling at their beauty. Lance had never seen them this close before, and only now realized there were tiny flecks of gray in the violet irises.

Lance licked his lips and those captivating eyes flicked down to follow the movement. Their gaze stared at his mouth for a beat and then slid back up to meet Lance’s own blue eyes,

Lance tilted his head and Keith’s eyes fluttered shut as their lips drew closer together.

_Bang!_

Lance and Keith jumped apart. On screen, the hero grimly lowered his gun as the villain plunged from the roof of a skyscraper.

Face aflame, Lance peeked over at Keith who seemed to be avoiding his gaze. Quashing his disappointment, Lance returned his attention to the movie.

As the credits rolled, Lance cleared his throat.

“So...video games?”

\-----

Keith won almost every racing game, but Lance was better at first-person shooters. They found they were pretty evenly matched at fighting and rhythm games.

Evening turned into night and Lance reluctantly packed up his things. Before he could bid Keith farewell, Keith said, “Could I ask you for a favor?”

Lance blinked but nodded. “If it’s within my power, sure.”

Keith fiddled with the hem of his sleeve. “Could you maybe find a hairbrush for me to use? Someone was kind enough to provide me with stuff like toothpaste and shampoo, but they must have forgotten that. My hair turns into a bird’s nest if I don’t brush it every day.”

Lance looked at Keith’s hair and noted it did look messier than usual.

“Sure, I’ll be right back.”

Lance dropped his bag off in his room and headed to a supply closet that held basic toiletries and amenities. After some searching, he managed to find a plain wooden brush.

He returned to Keith’s room and presented it with a flourish. Keith reached out to take it with a grateful smile.

“Do you need any help?”

Keith sent him an odd look. “With brushing my hair?”

Lance flushed and tried to play it cool with a shrug.

“That, or anything really. Like if you need any other stuff or food, I could grab it for you.”

“Thanks, but I think I’m good,” Keith hesitated and held out the brush. “But I wouldn’t mind...I mean if you wanted to…”

Lance stared so long that Keith started to pull the item back, but Lance quickly nodded and took the brush.

Firmly avoiding eye contact, Keith sat down on the bed. Lance clambered behind him and after a moment of hesitation, carefully ran the brush through the other boy’s dark hair.

The tension in Keith’s shoulders loosened and he let out a soft sigh. Lance gave in to temptation and ran his free hand through the silky curtain, marveling at its softness.

Lance could have happily spent the rest of his life brushing Keith’s hair, but soon enough the tangles were gone and Lance set the brush aside. Keith walked him to the door, his expression softer and more relaxed than Lance had ever seen it.

“Good night, Lance.”

“Good night, Keith.”

Lance returned to his room and hoped against all hope that Voltron’s negotiations with Lotor lasted a bit longer.

\-----

Lance was on his way back to Keith’s room the next morning when a familiar mop of dark blond hair caught his eye. Without thinking, Lance changed directions and chased after it.

“Matt!” he called out.

Matt turned and his face lit up when he saw who had flagged him down.

“Lance, hey!” Matt gave the other rebel a hug and a slap on the back. “How’ve you been, buddy?”

“I should be the one asking you that,” Lance said. “You looked pretty rough last time I saw you.”

“Pfft,” Matt flapped a hand. “Nothing a few hours in an Altean healing pod couldn’t fix.”

Lance hummed. Matt looked around with shifty eyes and hooked an arm around Lance’s neck to bring him in close.

“So,” he muttered under his breath, “I’m guessing since you’re here the mission is complete?”

Lance nodded.

“And the package? Is it still here or has it been returned?”

Lance hesitated. Matt obviously had the clearance to know the details of Lance’s mission, but now with the whole Blade of Marmora thing thrown in, things had become a little more complicated.

Seeing the indecision on his face, Matt quirked an eyebrow. “Relax, dude, you don’t have to tell me if you’re not allowed. I was just curious.”

“Let me check something.” Lance extricated himself from Matt’s hold and contacted Allura. After getting confirmation, he grinned at Matt and said, “Follow me.”

He led Matt to Keith’s room. As they entered, Keith leapt to his feet.

“Matt!” he exclaimed. “I didn’t think I’d ever get to see you again.” Keith gave Matt a quick once over. “You look like you’re fully healed. I’m glad.”

Matt blinked rapidly. “And you look weirdly cheerful for a prisoner of war.”

Keith laughed and Matt’s baffled expression grew. By the time they finished explaining the situation, however, the older rebel sported a wide grin.

“You little minx!” Matt ruffled Keith’s hair and Keith fended him off with an indignant squawk. “I can’t believe you were a honey pot. You always seemed so socially inept. Uh, no offense.”

Keith rolled his eyes and tried to fix the bird’s nest on his head. “Believe me, I was just as shocked as you are now when Kolivan told me what my new mission was.”

Matt chuckled. “Well, I guess things worked out, huh? So when do you go back to Daibazaal?”

Keith’s smile faded away, taking the room’s light-hearted mood with it.

“Allura says they’re in negotiations now,” he answered. “She hopes to reach an agreement by tonight.”

“I see,” Matt said softly.

A small _beep_ broke the silence and Matt pulled out his datapad to scan its contents.

“Looks like I’d better be going,” he said regretfully. “But I’m glad I got to see you again, Keith. You won’t believe how guilty I felt thinking your last impression of me was as a traitor.”

Keith smiled back at him. “I understand the feeling. Take care of yourself, Matt.”

“You too,” Matt placed a hand on Keith’s shoulder. “Now that Lance and I are both gone, Daibazaal will be more dangerous than ever. Be careful.”

Keith nodded. With one last wave goodbye, Matt exited the room.

The air felt heavy as Lance and Keith stood in silence. After a moment, Lance cleared his throat. Keith looked over and Lance shot him a crooked grin as he held up his bag.

“We didn’t finish our movie marathon yesterday.”

Keith smiled and led the way over to the bed. They settled in to watch the last few films in the franchise, both sitting a bit closer than last time.

Around the middle of the second movie, Lance silently reached over to pick up the hairbrush from Keith’s nightstand. Keith turned to give Lance a better angle and closed his eyes as Lance worked out the knots caused by Matt’s rough treatment earlier.

By the time he was done, they had somehow shifted so that Keith was curled into Lance’s side while Lance used his fingers to stroke Keith’s hair, the brush long since abandoned.

Movie all but forgotten, Lance tried his best to memorize the feeling of Keith in his arms.

\-----

Later that night, Allura stopped by to inform them that Lotor had finally agreed to their terms and they would make the trade tomorrow.

Once she’d left, Keith and Lance took a moment to sort of just...look at each other. Neither wanted to say the obvious. Finally, Lance forced himself to speak.

“Well, I’d, uh, better get going,” he jerked a thumb at the door. “Gotta be well-rested for tomorrow.”

Lance took a step toward the exit but a tug at his sleeve gave him pause.

Keith bit his lip and said, “Or you could stay.”

Lance’s heart skipped a beat.

“Do you think that’s a good idea?”

Keith’s bangs obscured his expression as he gazed at the floor.

“Tomorrow I go back to Lotor, and depending on how my mission goes, I’ll either marry him, or I’ll be discovered and executed. Either way, we probably won’t see each other again.”

Keith finally raised his eyes and pinned Lance with their intensity.

“Whatever happens, I don’t want to look back on this night and feel regret. So please, if you want to...stay.”

Lance stared into Keith’s big, beautiful eyes and saw his own emotions reflected back at him. His fear, his hope, and maybe even his love. Swallowing, Lance felt his face melt into a soft smile as he took both of Keith’s hands into his own.

“Okay.”

Keith started to lead Lance over to the bed but something caught Lance’s eye.

“Hey, do you maybe want to…”

Keith followed Lance’s gaze to the coil of rope on the desk, where it had remained untouched since Keith revealed his true identity.

Keith flushed but a spark of excitement lit up in his eyes. He nodded.

Lance fetched the rope and walked over to where Keith eagerly awaited him. He let his gaze slide slowly over Keith’s body.

“Strip.”

Keith’s eyes widened at the command but he quickly obeyed, revealing miles of pale, creamy skin and wiry muscle. Once finished, he looked back at Lance expectantly.

Lance directed Keith to sit on the bed with his legs tucked beneath him. Lance clambered onto the mattress behind Keith and gently guided his arms to rest parallel behind his back. Keith shivered as Lance bound his wrists together.

Once he made sure the knots were snug but not too tight, Lance tugged off his own shirt and wrapped his arms around Keith, pulling him closer so Keith’s back was pressed flush against Lance’s bare chest.

Keith’s head tilted back with a soft sigh as Lance peppered kisses onto his neck and shoulder.

“Don’t leave any marks,” Keith warned in barely more than a whisper.

Lance nodded. He ran a hand up Keith’s torso, blunt nails lightly scratching against the smooth expanse of skin, to pinch a nipple, eliciting a cute little moan.

Lance continued his ministrations and nibbled on Keith’s ear, and the breathy noises steadily increased in volume. As much as Lance wanted to hoard every delicious morsel, they weren’t exactly in a soundproof room, and Lance didn’t want to have to explain what they were doing to Allura. He raised his other hand, which had been resting on Keith hip, rubbing soothing circles into the bone with his thumb, and firmly covered Keith’s mouth to muffle his voice.

This seemed to get Keith even more excited, and his breath hitched before he let out a low moan that vibrated across Lance’s palm. Pliant up until now, Keith began to shudder and writhe in Lance’s hold.

Encouraged, Lance gave Keith’s chest one last teasing tweak before he reached down to grab Keith’s length and pump. He tightened his grip over Keith’s mouth as the other boy keened. Keith threw his head back against Lance’s shoulder and Lance took advantage of the exposed column of skin to latch onto his neck, still careful not to bite or suck too hard.

As Keith got closer to the edge, Lance drew away.

“Hey, I kinda need both hands for this next part. Do you want me to gag you?”

Keith rolled his head slightly to peer up at him through long, black eyelashes.

“Yes, please.”

The only thing that stopped Lance from combusting on the spot was the fact that then he wouldn’t get to continue having sex with Keith.

With a dry swallow, he forced himself to get up. Under Keith’s heated gaze, Lance removed the rest of his clothes and fetched the pieces of cloth lying next to the other coils of rope.

“Blindfold?”

Keith hesitated and then shook his head.

“No,” he said softly. “I want to be able to see you.”

Lance’s heart stuttered as he stared at the color rising on Keith’s cheeks. After a moment, he rushed to kneel in front of the other boy, grabbed his face, and crushed their lips together.

Keith stiffened in surprise but soon melted into the touch. Lance slid his fingers into Keith’s hair and coaxed the other boy’s mouth open to push his tongue inside. The kiss went from sweet and chaste to frantic and dirty then back to slow and soft. Lance gave him one last toe-curling lick before he pulled away and brought the cloth up to Keith’s lips instead.

Panting, Keith allowed Lance to stuff the balled up material into his mouth and knot the other strip behind his head.

Keith’s words echoing in his mind, Lance gently lowered the raven-haired boy onto his back and settled between his legs. With his fingers and tongue, Lance slowly worked Keith open until the raven-haired boy was such a wanton mess, Lance doubted he could form proper sentences even without the gag.

Finally pushing into Keith, Lance gazed down at Keith’s face and tried to commit every detail to memory. Despite his obvious shyness, Lance could tell Keith was doing the same thing. As Lance increased his rhythm, Keith maintained eye contact until the pleasure became too much and Keith had to squeeze his eyes shut and throw his head back, keening into the gag.

Lance always thought everything Keith did was beautiful. His fighting, his laughter, his rage. But here, in this moment, as Keith fell apart beneath him, Lance swore on all the stars in the universe that this was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen.

\-----

Lance and Keith followed Allura’s coordinates to land on an uninhabited planet. Another spacecraft arrived shortly after them, and once he confirmed that it belonged to Lotor, Lance turned to Keith.

“Before we go out there, I want you to have this.”

Lance handed Keith a small device, no bigger than his thumbnail. Keith examined it and his eyes widened in recognition.

“It’s not a communicator like Matt and I had, so it shouldn’t link you to Voltron. It just sends out an untraceable signal directly to my personal datapad.”

“Lance—”

“I know you can handle yourself,” Lance said. “And I’m sure you already have plenty of contingencies in place if your mission goes sideways. But I just want you to know,” Lance took both of Keith’s hands in his and stared earnestly into his eyes, “if you ever need my help, all you have to do is push this button.”

“Lance…”

“No, listen,” Lance cupped Keith’s cheek. “I know how the Blade works, Keith. If something goes wrong, there’s a good chance they won’t bail you out. So I want you to know you have another option. If you so much as get an inkling that Lotor suspects anything, use this and I’ll come get you.”

“Lance,” Keith said softly. “You know I can’t do that. I can’t abandon my mission unless I’m absolutely positive I’ve been caught, and by then it’ll be too late. If that happens, I don’t want you dying along with me.”

A strangled sound escaped from Lance’s throat and he used his hold on Keith to pull the other boy into an embrace. One arm wrapped around Keith’s waist and his other hand cradled the back of Keith’s head as Lance buried his nose into Keith’s hair.

“Please, Keith,” he whispered. “At least hold onto it, even if you refuse to use it. For my own peace of mind.”

Keith slowly pulled away and looked up into Lance’s eyes. Lance wasn’t sure what he saw, but after a moment, Keith slipped the device into his boot.

Once he was ready, Lance retrieved the rope and bound Keith’s wrists in front of him. After he finished tying the knot, Lance paused, his thumb lightly brushing the skin of Keith’s inner wrist.

“Lance?”

“Can I…” Lance licked his lips. “Can I kiss you? One last time?”

After a moment, Keith nodded. Lance gently cupped his face and lowered his mouth to cover Keith’s. He savored the moment as much as he could, memorizing the feel of Keith’s tongue languidly sliding against his own, swallowing the little hitch of breath as he tangled his fingers in Keith’s hair.

All too soon, Lance forced himself to pull away. No more words were spoken as they stared into each others’ eyes.

With a deep breath, Lance locked away his inner turmoil, and instead focused on his duty. He had a mission, as did Keith, and if the universe had any chance of freedom from the Galra Empire, they had to see them through.

With this in mind, Lance took a gentle but firm grip on Keith’s arm and led him off the ship. The planet they had agreed on was a wasteland, nothing but desert as far as the eye could see. The only other thing besides the endless dunes of wine colored sand was the ship directly across from Lance’s, in front of which stood Prince Lotor and Shiro.

The four of them slowly walked towards each other, Lotor’s cold gaze never leaving Lance’s, until they finally met in the middle.

Lance ignored him in favor of examining Shiro. The rebel captain looked haggard, a few cuts and bruises littering his face, but ultimately whole.

Upon seeing Keith up close, Shiro’s eyes widened, no doubt confused as to why Voltron’s bargaining chip was the person he considered his younger brother. He quickly hid his reaction, but thankfully Lotor seemed to be too busy glaring at Lance to notice in the first place.

Despite every part of Lance screaming at him to grab Keith and run in the opposite direction, Lance gave the other boy a small push toward the prince. Keith and Shiro crossed paths and before Lance knew it, Shiro was by his side and Lotor was sweeping Keith into his arms.

“Lance,” Shiro said quietly. “What is going on?”

Lance shook his head and started urging Shiro back towards his ship.

“I’ll explain everything soon, but first let’s get out of here.”

As they walked up the loading ramp, Lance risked one last glance back at Keith. Lotor had removed his bonds and was carrying Keith bridal style up into his ship.

Lance tapped the communicator in his ear.

“Report,” ordered Allura’s voice.

As the ramp ascended, Keith’s head turned to lock eyes with Lance, holding his gaze until the entrance slid shut.

“Mission complete.”

\-----

\-----

\-----

Keith stared listlessly out over the castle grounds, his chin resting on his folded arms as he leaned against the railing.

“Are you alright, pet?”

Keith’s gaze flickered up as Lotor joined him on the balcony.

“Just tired, I think,” Keith replied.

“You’ve had a difficult couple of months, both physically and emotionally,” the prince pointed out. “But I think I have something that will cheer you up.”

Keith followed curiously as Lotor led him back into the bedroom.

“What’s all this?”

Keith looked at the array of items spread across half the bed.

“A little something to take your mind off your ordeal,” the prince replied as he carded a hand through Keith’s hair. “Pick whatever you like.”

Keith’s eyes roamed over the various gags, bindings, and toys. A shiver of anticipation ran through him and he shot a smirk up at Lotor.

“Surprise me.”

With a smile, Lotor guided Keith onto the empty side of the bed and settled over him. Keith closed his eyes as the prince’s tongue languidly tangled with his own.

“Before we really get started, there is one thing I wanted to ask you,” Lotor murmured against his lips.

“Yes?” Keith hummed as sharp teeth nipped the sensitive skin underneath his jaw.

“What is this?”

Keith’s eyes fluttered open to see Lotor hold up the communication device Lance had given him. Freezing, he looked into Lotor’s cold eyes and knew no matter what he answered, his fate was already sealed.

Keith’s hand shot out to grab the knife strapped to the underside of the mattress but Lotor was faster and pinned both of Keith’s wrists above his head. Holding them with one hand, the prince reached over for one of the leather straps beside them, his movements casual despite how much Keith struggled beneath him.

“I really thought you were different, you know,” Lotor lamented as he tightly buckled the material around Keith’s wrists. “Tell me, was it that pathetic rebel? I saw how the two of you looked at each other. A part of me was glad when he turned out to be a traitor, but now he’s led you astray,” Lotor’s grip became almost bruising. “Or have you been plotting against me from the very beginning?”

“Let me go!” Keith strained against the bonds and tried to buck the prince off to no avail. “I don’t know what you’re talking about! I’ve never seen that thing before, they must have planted it on me when I was being held captive!”

Lotor used another strap to attach Keith’s wrists to the headboard.

“I think that’s enough lying, don’t you, pet?”

Keith tried to kick him, but Lotor grabbed the offending leg and tied another strap around his ankle to bind it to the metal bars at foot of the bed. He gave Keith’s other leg the same treatment so Keith was unable to bend his knees more than a few degrees.

“Lotor, please,” Keith said. “I’m not a rebel.”

“I wish I could believe you, my dear. Truly, I do. All I’ve thought about since the day we met was ruling the empire with you by my side. But,” Lotor’s eyes glittered dangerously as he stroked Keith’s face. “I suppose that instead of sitting next to my throne, I’ll just have to keep you here, in my bed.”

Keith’s blood ran cold.

“What?”

“I know it’s unorthodox. Usually traitors are incarcerated or executed. But you’ve managed to get under my skin, Keith. Even if our relationship was based on a lie, I still love you, and couldn’t bare to lose you. So,” Lotor reached over and plucked a red leather gag from the pile, “I’ve decided your punishment will be a much more personal form of imprisonment.”

Keith renewed his struggling but Lotor shoved the gag into his mouth and snugly buckled it behind his head.

“Mmph!”

“Red always has been your color, my dear,” the prince kissed the leather covering Keith’s lips.

Keith tried to squirm away but Lotor buried his fingers in Keith’s hair and gripped hard, keeping his head in place as the prince forced Keith’s wide eyes to meet his captor’s cold stare.

“As for your little rebel friend,” he growled, “I’ll soon show him the consequences of taking what’s mine.”

\-----

Since he was half Altean, Lance had access to an abundance of magic and technology. The ancient race had discovered solutions for everything from illness to inconvenience.

But despite millions of years of wisdom and research, Lance found that no Altean remedy helped a broken heart as well as ice cream did. Specifically, chocolate ice cream with pieces of brownie mixed in.

Which was why Hunk found him in the mess hall at two in the morning drowning his sorrows in a giant bowl of the Earthling dessert.

“Hey, bud,” Hunk said gently as he sat down next to his friend.

Lance grunted and continued to shovel chocolate in his mouth.

“I know you can’t really talk about your mission, but, well...do you wanna talk about it?”

Lance paused to raise an eyebrow at Hunk.

“I mean, don’t give me the details, because I don’t wanna get involved in some dangerous, top secret stuff, and then Allura finds out you told me and like, throws me into a wormhole to who knows where, but y’know,” Hunk shrugged. “If you wanna just vaguely tell me how you’re feeling, I’m all ears.”

Lance looked back down at his ice cream and pursed his lips. Hunk waited patiently as Lance dug abstract shapes with his spoon.

“When I was undercover,” Lance said lowly, “I met someone.”

He peeked up at his friend and Hunk gave him an encouraging nod.

“We got to know each other,” Lance continued, “and at first it was just for the sake of the mission, but as time went on, I…” he took another miserable bite of chocolate.

“Oh, Lance,” Hunk said sympathetically. “I’m sorry, buddy. Is there any chance you might see each other again?”

“No,” Lance shook his head.

Hunk didn’t question why Lance sounded so certain, and merely rubbed his back in a soothing rhythm.

Lance felt a prickle in his nose and squeezed his eyes shut.

“Uh, Lance? Why is your datapad blinking like that?”

All thoughts of crying vanished as Lance snatched the tablet from the table. A red dot insistently blinked up at him. Lance jumped to his feet, nearly knocking over his chair and startling Hunk.

“Lance?”

“I have to go find Pidge!” Lance said. “Do you think she’s in her room?”

“Um, I’d check the lab first if I was you. I’m pretty sure she doesn’t actually sleep.”

“Thanks for the talk, man,” Lance said over his shoulder, running out of the mess hall. “I’ll explain everything later.”

“Is this more top secret stuff?” Hunk’s voice called after him. “Because if it is, I don’t want to know!”

Lance raced through the empty halls to get to the communications lab. Just as Hunk said, Pidge sat curled up in a chair in front of a large computer screen, her fingers flying over the keyboard. She barely even reacted when Lance came barreling through the door.

“Pidge, I need your help.”

Pidge looked up from her work with a disgruntled scowl.

“Again? I just did you a favor the other day with that comm. Those specifications you asked for weren’t exactly easy on such short notice.”

“That’s kinda why I need your help.” Lance held up his datapad to reveal the blinking distress signal. “Keith’s in trouble.”

Pidge’s eyes widened and she snatched the datapad for closer scrutiny.

“Can you get me access to a spacecraft with top level stealth mode?”

“What?” Pidge’s head snapped up. “You want to steal a ship?!”

“Not steal!” Lance protested. “Just borrow.”

At her look, Lance scowled. “Okay, fine, yes! I need to steal one of Voltron’s best ships so I can rescue Keith. Now will you help me or not?”

Lance could see the gears turning in her mind, and had a fairly good idea what she was probably thinking. On one hand, if she agreed, Pidge would technically be an accomplice to treason against Voltron. On the other hand, she still kind of owed him for helping Matt escape. Plus she and Lance had been friends since childhood and they had a strong bond of trust, so she knew Lance would never ask this of her unless it was a life or death situation.

Honestly though, the thing that probably tipped the scales in Lance’s favor was that Pidge loved crime and thrived on chaos.

“You want the red ship or the blue ship?”

\-----

Lance’s thoughts raced as he flew back to Daibazaal Castle. He knew as soon as he saw the distress beacon that one of two things must have happened. Either Keith had been caught but managed to activate the device without Lotor’s knowledge, or Lotor had found the device and this was a trap.

Either way, Keith was in trouble, and Lance was going to rescue him.

As he got closer to his destination, Lance studied the signal on his datapad. Thanks to Pidge, he pinpointed the device’s location to the castle dungeons. Hopefully he would find Keith there as well.

With the ship’s stealth panels activated, Lance managed to land near the castle without raising the alarm. He wasn’t sure if the ease of his journey was due to the technology or because he was walking into a trap, but he hoped it was the former.

Lance kept his guard up as he snuck onto the castle grounds. Pidge had let him borrow a prototype bodysuit that made him as close to invisible as modern technology could manage, but it wasn’t infallible.

With careful timing around the guard patrols and some quick thinking, Lance made it to the dungeons. Despite the archaic name, the cells were quite modern looking.

Lance surreptitiously checked the beacon’s signal and snaked his way through the twisting corridors. After passing dozens of cells, Lance finally came to a stop in front of a thick, metal door. Like the others, there was an access pad on the wall next to the handle.

He fiddled with his datapad to initiate the hacking software Pidge had installed, periodically checking to make sure no one was coming down the hall.

Finally, the door unlocked with a _beep_ and Lance slipped through.

Keith kneeled in the middle of the room, his wrists bound together over his head, attached to the ceiling by a long chain. He had probably been there for awhile, judging by the tired lines of his body and the way his head hung low, face hidden behind a curtain of hair.

Not wanting to waste any more time, Lance turned off the suit’s stealth mode and silently padded over to him. Once he was closer, Keith spotted Lance out of the corner of his eye and jerked his head up. Keith tried to stand, but his legs gave out, and Lance scrambled to catch him before he hurt himself any more.

“Woah, woah,” Lance murmured. “It’s okay, I’ve got you.”

Keith whimpered behind the leather gag covering his mouth and weakly tried to pull away, but Lance kept a firm grip around his waist as he eyed the handcuffs that attached Keith to the ceiling.

“Doesn’t look like these will come off easy. First let’s get that gag off of you.”

Keith’s eyes widened in alarm and he started to shake his head.

“Hold still, man,” Lance fumbled to unclasp the buckle of the gag.

“Mmph!” Keith stared hard at something over Lance’s shoulder.

Lance’s hand flew to the gun holstered to his hip but before he could grab it, something hard struck the back of his head.

The last thing Lance saw before the world went black was the horrified look in Keith’s eyes.

\-----

Lance let out a low groan as he regained consciousness. Blinking groggily, he took in his surroundings.

Judging by the blank, gray walls and large metal door, he was in a prison cell similar to the one he had found Keith in. He sat propped against the wall opposite the entrance, his arms suspended above his head by a pair of handcuffs connected by a glowing chain of energy. The chain looped through a small metal hoop welded to the wall. Lance gave the cuffs an experimental tug, but unsurprisingly, they didn’t budge.

Lance swept his eyes over the rest of the room, but there wasn’t much to see. It was completely bare except for the small surveillance camera pointed at him from a corner of the ceiling.

The camera was probably why Lance didn’t have to wait long for someone to visit.

The door opened and Lotor glided in, his genial smile belied by the cold glint in his eyes.

“Hello, Lance,” the prince stopped just in front of Lance and crouched down so they were face to face, though with his height, Lotor still had to look down. “I’d ask if that’s your real name, but I doubt you’d answer, and quite frankly I don’t care. Do you know why you’re here?”

Lance studied him warily. After a moment of tense silence, Lance shrugged and slumped against the wall with feigned nonchalance.

“I’m guessing it’s something to do with me being a rebel spy who kidnapped your fiancé,” he answered cheerily.

Lotor hummed, his smile never wavering.

“That is part of it, yes,” he agreed. “But more than that, you are here as punishment.”

Lance frowned. “Uh, yeah, for being a spy.”

“No, no,” Lotor shook his head with a chuckle. “It’s not punishment for you.”

“What?”

Lotor stood up as the door opened once again. Two guards entered dragging a struggling Keith between them. His hands were also bound in front of him by cuffs similar to Lance’s.

Keith saw him and his eyes widened.

“Lance!”

Keith moved towards Lance but the guards prevented him from going more than a step.

“Well now, isn’t this a touching reunion,” Lotor mocked.

A servant brought in a large armchair to set in the middle of the room a few meters in front of Lance. Lotor grabbed Keith’s chin and forced him to meet the prince’s gaze.

“We’re going to enjoy a little show, and I suggest you behave yourself if you don’t want to make things exponentially worse for poor Lance here.”

Keith scowled but nodded.

With a smirk, Lotor dismissed the guards to stand by the entrance and led Keith over to the armchair. Lotor sat down and sharply tugged Keith’s arm so that the raven-haired boy sat sideways across his lap. Lotor looped an arm around Keith’s waist and brought his other hand up to pet Keith’s hair. Keith barely seemed to notice the prince’s ministrations, his worried gaze glued to Lance’s face.

Lance tried his best to give Keith an encouraging smile, even as dread pooled in his stomach.

“Begin,” Lotor drawled.

One of the guards walked over to Lance and pulled a slim baton from his belt. Without warning, he jammed the pronged end into Lance’s side and flicked a switch.

Electricity crackled as pain coursed through Lance’s body. He grit his teeth to swallow the strangled noise that tore through his throat. Though his eyes were squeezed shut, Lance could hear Keith struggling against Lotor’s hold.

After what felt like an hour, but was probably only a few minutes, the pain stopped. Lance sagged against the wall, panting.

“Tell me, what setting is that on?” Lotor asked.

“Three, Sire,” the guard responded.

“Out of?”

“Ten.”

Keith paled, his eyes wide.

Lotor smiled.

“If you don’t want to experience the other seven levels, I suggest you cooperate,” he told Lance. “Now, where is Voltron’s headquarters?”

Lance glared. He had bitten his cheek while getting electrocuted and spat a glob of blood at the prince’s feet.

Lotor sighed and nodded at the guard.

This time Lance was less successful at holding back his cry of pain. When it was finally over, he fell limp once more.

“Let’s try that again,” Lotor said lightly. “What are the coordinates for Voltron?”

“Go...fuck...yourself…” Lance gritted out.

“Hm, I think he needs a bit more incentive,” Lotor wrapped his arms tighter around Keith’s waist. “Don’t you, pet?”

Keith scowled but remained silent.

“I know,” Lotor mused, “perhaps we ought to visit Earth. Lance here once told me you miss it.” The prince’s eyes glimmered. “From what I understand, your sun is quite large.  I’m sure it would make a lovely supernova.”

Lance’s head snapped up and he thrashed against his bonds.

“Don’t you dare,” he growled. “I thought you liked to preach about treating conquered planets with peace over violence.”

“That’s true,” Lotor nodded. “But then all three humans in my employ turned out to be rebels. Not a very good track record for your species, is it?”

“You hypocritical son of a—”

Lotor’s eyes flicked over to the guard, who obediently cut Lance off with a swift kick to the ribs. The guard that had been standing by the door walked over to join in, cracking his knuckles in what he no doubt thought was a menacing demeanor. Lance would have laughed if he wasn’t busy struggling to regain the air knocked from his lungs. His amusement was quickly forgotten, however, as heavy blows rained down upon him.

\-----

Keith watched in horror as the guards continued to beat Lance. Their hulking forms blocked the rebel from view, and all Keith could hear was the sound of flesh hitting flesh, accompanied by the occasional pained grunt.

Keith ached to go to Lance’s side, to rip the guards away and hide Lance somewhere safe, but Lotor kept an iron grip around his waist, and as Keith squirmed his hold only grew tighter.

“I’d stop that if I were you,” the prince warned lowly. “You don’t want to make things even more difficult for him, do you?”

Keith froze and turned to Lotor with desperate eyes.

“Lotor, please,” Keith begged. “Let him go. If you want to hurt someone, hurt me instead.”

“Oh, pet,” Lotor gently cupped Keith’s face in his hands. “Don’t you understand? I am hurting you.”

“You…” Keith blinked up at the prince. “What?”

Lotor’s fingers slid back into Keith’s hair and gripped hard, eliciting a wince.

“You broke my heart,” Lotor stared down at Keith with cold eyes. “So now I’m going to break yours.”

\-----

Lance wasn’t sure how much time had passed.

If he had to guess, he’d say a few days, but it was hard to tell in the windowless room.

Life became an endless cycle of unpleasantries. The guards would feed him tasteless rations with the minimum nutrients required to survive, then he’d sit alone in his cell for who knows how long. The boredom was almost worse than the actual torture.

Almost, but not quite.

Every now and then, Lotor would visit, dragging Keith along to watch the guards interrogate Lance. They beat him, electrocuted him, threatened him. But Lance was a professional.

Every time, Lotor would ask for Voltron’s coordinates.

And every time, Lance would remain stubbornly silent.

But instead of getting angry or frustrated, the prince merely smiled and gestured to the guards.

It wasn’t long before Lance became familiar with all ten levels of the electric baton.

\-----

As he watched Lance’s body spasm in pain for what felt like the hundredth time, Keith frantically tried to think of a plan.

If the chain connecting the cuffs around Keith’s wrists had been made of metal, he might have been able to use it as a garrote, wrap it around Lotor’s neck and order the guards to let Lance go. But the chain was made of energy, and Lotor could simply deactivate it with a push of a button.

Still, Keith needed to do something. Lance’s condition only got worse with each passing day. If they didn’t escape soon, Keith feared the guards would actually end up killing Lance. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if that happened.

Keith took a moment to reassess the situation. Like the other times Lotor had brought him here, he and the prince sat on a large armchair. The chair itself was too big to use as a weapon, though it might make decent cover if needed.

Two guards towered over Lance, one periodically electrocuting the rebel while the other beat him on the prince’s orders. They were both typical Galra, large and intimidating, but Keith had fought worse and won.

No, the hard part would be overpowering Lotor to get the key that released Lance’s handcuffs. And even if he managed that, they would then have to fight their way out of the castle. Keith doubted Lance could walk right now, let alone fight.

As much as he hated to just sit there and watch as Lance writhed in agony, Keith knew the best plan was to bide his time and wait for the opportune moment.

Then the second guard added his baton alongside the first.

Lance screamed.

Something inside of Keith snapped and threw all thoughts of caution out the window.

Without warning, Keith jabbed his elbow upward to strike Lotor hard under his chin. The prince’s head snapped up from the force and his arms instinctively released Keith to protect his face. Keith rolled out of Lotor’s lap into a low crouch on the floor.

The guards spun around, alerted by the noise, but Keith was already moving. Quick as lightning, he ducked under one guard’s arm as he made a grab for Keith and knocked the other guard aside with a roundhouse kick.

The first guard thrust his electric baton at Keith, but Keith dodged and grabbed the weapon, managing to pull it from the bigger Galra’s grasp. He rolled between the surprised guard’s legs to kneel behind him, flipped it to the highest setting, and jammed the pronged end into his back. Electricity crackled and the guard fell to the ground with a heavy thud.

Keith had no time to celebrate his victory, as the other guard recovered and lunged at him. Keith swiftly stepped to the side and held out his arms so the guard’s hand went in between them. Keith twisted the chain of his handcuffs around the guard’s wrist and used it to wrench his arm behind his back, throwing him off balance so that Keith could knock him down face first onto the floor and pin him with his knee.

Before he could do anything else, a strong hand grabbed Keith’s hair and yanked him backwards. The metal cuffs around his wrists unlinked and pulled Keith’s arms behind him to snap together like a magnet.

“You’ll pay for that,” Lotor’s voice hissed in his ear.

Keith turned as best he could and met the prince’s livid eyes. A dark bruise was already forming under his chin, blotchy against the pale lilac skin.

Lotor used his hold on Keith to force him to kneel in front of Lance.

“Take a good look,” he sneered. “You won’t be seeing him again for a very long time.”

Keith barely had the chance to register Lance’s worried expression before Lotor hauled him out of the cell. Tossing Keith over his shoulder, Lotor addressed the guard picking himself up off the ground, the other one still unconscious.

“Take care of him.”

“No! Lance!”

Keith struggled against Lotor but it was futile.

“Keith!”

Keith heard the familiar crackle of the baton and Lance’s pained yell before the door slammed shut.

\-----

Time held no meaning as Lance faded in and out of consciousness. When he wasn’t distracted by how every muscle in his body seemed to be on fire, he worried about Keith and what punishment the raven-haired boy must be facing.

His only relief was when the pain became too much and he blacked out.

“—nce...Lance…Come one, wake up, buddy.”

Lance’s vision swam as he struggled to open his eyes. After a moment, a familiar face came into focus.

“Matt?” Lance croaked. “What are you doing here?”

“Rescuing you, duh,” Matt rolled his eyes and reached up to fiddle with the cuffs attaching Lance to the wall. “You got me out of here once, so I’m returning the favor.”

Lance heard a _click_ and the deactivated cuffs fell to the floor.

“How’d you even know I was here?” Lance rubbed his sore wrists.

“Pidge got worried when you didn’t check in after a few days and hacked the security feed. She saw you locked in this cell and came to me.”

Matt rummaged in his pouch and pulled out a vial of bright blue liquid.

“Here, drink this and let's go.”

Lance obeyed with a grimace. The potion was an Altean concoction that boosted one’s vitals. It was nothing compared to a healing pod, but would give him enough energy to get out of here on his own two feet.

It tasted awful though.

He handed Matt the empty vial, and followed his fellow rebel out the door and past the knocked out security guards.

As Matt turned down the hall that would take them to the hangar, Lance stopped him.

“Wait,” Lance said. “We can’t leave without Keith. He’s the whole reason I came here.”

“He wasn’t in the dungeons,” Matt frowned, “and we don’t have the time to search the whole castle.”

“I think I might know where he is,” Lance said. “Give me thirty minutes, and we’ll meet you at the ship.”

Matt studied Lance’s face for a moment.

“You have twenty. If you’re not back in time, I’m leaving without you,” he warned. “Now go. I’ll help Pidge keep the guards off you.”

Lance nodded gratefully and took off as quickly as his injuries allowed. True to Matt’s words, Lance didn’t run into anyone the whole way to Lotor’s quarters. As soon as he got there, the security panel blinked green and Lance opened the door.

He barged into Lotor’s bedroom, fully intent on fighting the prince with his bare hands if that’s what it took to get Keith back, but froze at the sight before him.

Lotor sat on a large armchair, his eyes narrowed. Straddling Lotor’s lap with his knees on either side of the prince’s hips was Keith, his wrists bound together in front of him.

And a knife pressed against Lotor’s throat.

“Lance!” Keith exclaimed. “I was just about to come rescue you!”

Lance blinked and grinned roguishly.

“Guess I beat you to it,” he sauntered over, basking in the heat of Lotor’s glare. “We’d better hurry though, our ride leaves in ten minutes.”

Keith nodded and turned his attention back to the prince. Lotor sneered up at him.

“Don’t think this means you’ve won,” he hissed. “I will hunt you both down and make you regret ever being born.”

Keith’s eyes narrowed and he pressed the blade harder against Lotor’s neck.

“Not if I kill you here and now.”

“We both know you won’t do that,” the prince smirked. “I’ve gotten under your skin just as you got under mine. We’re bonded, you and I.”

“Shut up.”

“You may be a spy, but I know you, Keith. What we had was real. Your feelings for me are as true as mine are for you.”

Keith’s split second of hesitation was all Lotor needed. Before Lance could blink, Lotor grabbed Keith’s knife and threw the smaller Galra off of him. Keith’s head hit the edge of the nearby table with a sickening _crack_ and he fell limp to the floor.

“Keith!”

Lance lunged to help him, but a strong hand shot out and gripped Lance by the throat. Lotor shoved Lance against the wall, his sharp nails digging into the soft flesh of Lance’s neck.

“I had hoped to draw out your death,” Lotor said, seemingly unbothered by Lance’s frantic clawing at the hand that blocked his airway, “but I suppose I’ll have to settle for this. Perhaps with you permanently out of the way, Keith will become more open to...persuasion.”

Lotor raised Keith’s knife above his head, ready to plunge it into Lance’s heart.

_Crash!_

Lance stared blankly as the knife slipped from the prince’s grasp and fell to the ground with a clatter. Lotor soon followed, slumping onto the floor, a small trickle of blood seeping through his white hair.

Behind him stood Keith, the shattered remains of what was probably once a large glass bottle of expensive alcohol still clutched in his hands.

The two of them looked at each other.

“Thanks,” Lance said, his voice scratchy from the abuse to his throat.

Keith jerkily nodded and stooped down to pick up the fallen knife. He flipped the blade to saw at the ropes that still bound his wrists together but seemed to be having difficulty getting a good angle.

“Here,” Lance stepped over Lotor’s prone body. “Let me.”

Keith handed Lance the weapon and held out his wrists. “I think I might have a concussion.”

“If it makes you feel better, Lotor probably has one too now.”

“That does, actually,” Keith’s lips quirked as Lance finally freed him.

“Come on,” Lance returned the knife and took Keith’s hand in his own. “Let’s get out of here.”

\-----

Allura chewed them all out for going against protocol when they got back, but it wasn’t quite as bad as Lance had feared. Probably because he and Keith were both rushed into healing pods before too long.

Once the pods were done, Keith finally got to have a proper reunion with Shiro, who hadn’t seen his brother in years. A few tears may have been shed.

Kolivan himself came by a few days later to debrief Keith on what had happened. Lance got the impression that Keith wasn’t in trouble, but he still looked a bit like a kicked puppy when Lance found him in the mess hall afterwards.

“Hey, man,” he sat down next to Keith. “How’d it go?”

Keith shrugged and morosely poked at his meal. “The Blade is happy I’m alive, but disappointed the mission went south.”

“Understandable.”

“Yeah,” Keith sighed. “I feel the same, honestly. I know I should just be thankful we both made it out of there in one piece, but a part of me can’t stop thinking about what went wrong, what I could have done differently. The mission wasn’t a complete failure. I stole a lot of data during my time with Lotor, which let the Blade save lots of people, but…” Keith jabbed a chunk of potato with his fork and frowned. “I feel like I could have done more.”

Lance nodded. It wasn’t uncommon for missions to have an unsatisfying conclusion, but that didn’t make it any easier when it happened.

“I, uh, talked to Allura about what Lotor said,” Lance offered a crooked smile. “I think she wants to turn Earth’s solar system into a fortress in case he decides to make good on his threat to blow up the sun. Earth has always been pretty resentful about the Empire taking over, so I doubt she’ll have much trouble convincing them to join the rebellion.”

“That’s good.”

Keith finished his meal and Lance walked with him back towards his room.

“So what are you gonna do now?” Lance asked. “Return to the Blade with Kolivan?”

“That’s the plan,” Keith grimaced. “Now that my face is known to the Empire, I doubt they’ll let me go undercover any time soon. Might be for the best, really. I never wanted that kind of assignment in the first place. Our uniforms have masks so maybe they’ll let me go back to being an assassin.”

Lance hummed as they stopped in front of Keith’s door. They looked at each other, but it didn’t feel as awkward as Lance had expected.

“I’ll miss you,” Lance said quietly.

Keith’s eyes softened.

“I’ll miss you too,” he replied. “Who knows? Maybe someday our missions will cross paths again.”

“Maybe.”

Keith pressed the button to slide the automatic door open. Before going through, he hesitated and looked back at Lance.

“Can I kiss you?” Keith bit his lip. “One last time?”

Lance nodded and Keith stepped closer. Ever so slowly, Keith brought his hands up to frame Lance’s face and gently pull Lance down to meet Keith’s waiting mouth. The kiss was slow and sweet, and all too soon Keith pulled away. The dark silky strands of Keith’s hair slipped through Lance’s fingers as the smaller boy’s warmth faded and Keith stepped back through the threshold.

“Good night, Lance,” Keith murmured, and the door slid shut.

\------

A month passed but Lance barely noticed. For reasons similar to Keith’s, Voltron didn’t want to give Lance another mission for awhile. Part of him grew restless waiting for a new assignment, but another part was grateful to have time to spend with his family and friends, and recover from the more traumatizing aspects of his mission.

Mostly though, he missed Keith.

The Blade went radio silent once he and Kolivan left, which was unsurprising, but Lance wished there was some way he and Keith could communicate. He asked Pidge, but by then it was too late. The best she could do was give him a pair of special communicators that only talked to each other, but in order to use them, Lance would have to somehow get the device to Keith in the first place. No one he talked to seemed to know any Blade members well enough to be able to deliver it. Allura could probably send it, but Lance knew she would only do so if it was important for a mission. Telling her he just wanted to hear Keith’s voice probably wouldn’t fly.

Lance sighed and ate more chocolate ice cream.

Footsteps approached and a voice said, “Hey, Lance, been looking for you.”

Lance looked up and offered a smile, though it was dimmer than usual.

“Hey, Shiro. What’s up?”

“I was hoping you could attend tomorrow morning’s training session. We’ve got a new instructor and I’d like you to meet him.”

Lance shrugged. “Sure, I guess.”

“Great,” Shiro slapped Lance on the back. “Class starts at 0800. And in the meantime,” he eyed the large bowl in front of Lance, “try to leave some ice cream for the rest of us, yeah? We only get shipments from Earth once every few months.”

\-----

Lance yawned as he entered the training room. One nice thing about being on mandatory leave was getting to sleep in. Shiro had personally asked him to come though, so Lance forced himself out of bed and here he was.

The room was a pretty standard Altean fitness room. Lance himself had trained here as a new recruit, and his eyes swept over the familiar mats, equipment, and weapons. A small group of cadets were gathered on one side listening intently to Shiro’s instructions.

Lance made his way over and Shiro raised a hand in greeting.

“Lance, glad you made it,” Shiro set a hand on Lance’s shoulder and turned back to the curious crowd. “Everyone, this is Lance McClain, one of our top agents. He recently completed a mission that dealt a huge blow to the Galra Empire. I can’t give you any details, but suffice it to say I owe this man my life.”

As the crowd chattered excitedly, Lance shot a surprised look at Shiro. Pride swelled in his chest at the sight of his role model smiling back at him.

“He’s also the best shot on this side of the galaxy,” Shiro added. “Maybe later he’ll show you all some moves. First though, we’re practising hand-to-hand combat. We’ve got a new instructor today, who is also an expert in his field.”

The door slid open with a _woosh_ and a young man stepped in. Lance felt the air leave his lungs.

“Ah, and here he is now,” Shiro grinned. “Everyone, this is my brother, Keith. He’ll be teaching you from now on.”

Keith greeted the students with a small smile and finally turned to Lance, his big violet eyes shy but hopeful.

“Hi,” he said softly.

“Hi,” Lance replied once he regained the ability to speak.

“So,” Shiro said after the silence dragged on a little too long, “how would you like to start today’s lesson, Keith?”

Keith’s lips turned up into a smirk and he shot Lance a challenging look.

“How about a demonstration?” he said. “You ready to show me what you’ve got?”

A slow grin spread across Lance’s face as that familiar spark ignited in his chest.

“Bring it.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Trigger Warning (MAJOR SPOILERS):
> 
> While technically, Keith and Lotor are in a consensual relationship, Keith is actually a spy working for the Blade of Marmora so everything they do together is somewhat dubious by nature. Eventually, Lotor discovers Keith’s true identity and imprisons him. While there is no explicit non-con, Lotor does intend to basically keep Keith as his sex slave and it’s ambiguous if anything happens before Lance shows up to rescue Keith.
> 
> Unfortunately for Lance, this is a trap and Lance gets captured and tortured. Again, nothing super explicit, but it’s along the lines of what you might expect in a rough interrogation. Basically, they beat him up and taser him a few times.
> 
> \-----
> 
> Thank you so much for reading this fic! I’ve been working on it for a few months now and it’s by far the longest complete fic I’ve written so far. (Flare and Flow is much longer but it’s still a WIP)
> 
> I had a lot of fun writing it and I hope you enjoyed reading! Feel free to leave me a comment/kudos/bookmark if you did, and please check out my other works as well! *:ﾟ*｡⋆ฺ(*´◡`)
> 
> I’m considering writing a (much shorter) prequel fic from Keith’s POV about when he first got stationed at Daibazaal and met Lotor, but I haven’t decided for sure yet. If that’s something you guys would be interested in, let me know! 
> 
> And finally, extra special thanks to my beta Melissa for editing this fic and not kinkshaming me despite feeling awkward about the smut lol. You da best.
> 
> Edit: Just for the record, I wrote this before season 8 was released so Lance with round ears and Altean marks is purely a fun coincidence. And I'd say it makes more sense in my version, haha.


End file.
